• Stefania Tinti, Beatrice De Maria, Monica Parati, Stefano Terzoni, Maria Cristiana Rossi, Daria Da Col, Giulia Pairona, Carla Longhi, Elisa Giudici, Irene Pidone, Annalisa Alberti, Michele Sofia, Ida Ramponi, Nicla Urbano, Keiko Tanaka, and Anne Destrebecq.
• Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Rome, Italy. Electronic address: stefania.tinti@unimi.it.
• J Pain Symptom Manage. 2021 Mar 1; 61 (3): 571-578.e1.

ContextThe Cancer Dyspnea Scale (CDS) is a self-reported multidimensional tool used for the assessment of dyspnea, a subjective experience of breathing discomfort, in patients with cancer. The scale describes dyspnea using three distinct factors: physical, psychological, and discomfort at rest.ObjectivesTo crossculturally validate the Italian version of CDS (CDS-IT) and examine its content validity, feasibility, internal consistency, and construct validity in patients with advanced cancer.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted. CDS-IT was forward-backward translated, and its content was validated among a group of experts. Cronbach's α coefficients were used to assess the internal consistency. Construct validity was examined in terms of structural validity through confirmatory factor analysis, and convergent validity was examined with Visual Analogue Scale Dyspnea through the Pearson's correlation coefficient (r). Cancer Quality of life (European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 15 Palliative Care) and Italian Palliative Outcome Scale were also tested.ResultsThe CDS-IT was crossculturally validated and showed satisfactory content validity. A total of 101 patients (mean age = 76 [SD = 12]; 53% females) were recruited in palliative care settings. CDS-IT reported a good internal consistency in the total score and its factors (α = 0.74-0.83). The factor analysis corresponded acceptably but not completely with the original study. CDS-IT strongly correlated with Visual Analogue Scale Dyspnea (r = 0.68) and moderately with Italian Palliative Outcome Scale and European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 15 Palliative Care (r = 0.33-0.36, respectively).ConclusionThe study findings supported the crosscultural validity of the CDS-IT. Its feasibility, internal consistency, and construct validity are satisfactory for clinical practice. The CDS-IT is available to health care professionals as a useful tool to assess dyspnea in patients with cancer.Copyright © 2020 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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