Overview
The NCCN/FACT Head & Neck Cancer Symptom Index-22 (NFHNSI-22) adequately reflects symptom and side effect concerns of advanced head & neck cancer patients as well as oncology physicians. Patients (N = 49) with advanced (Stages III and IV) head & neck cancers were recruited from participating National Comprehensive Cancer Network institutions and community cancer support organizations. Patients completed open-ended interviews and symptom checklists. Participating oncology physician experts also rated symptoms. Content validity was obtained by evaluating results alongside items in the FACIT system. Eleven oncologists categorized symptoms in terms of importance and whether the symptoms were primarily related to disease, treatment, or functional well-being. The NFHNSI-22 can be used to evaluate the most important disease-related symptoms, treatment side effects, and function/wellbeing in patients with advanced HCNs in clinical practice and research.
MEASURE NAME:
National Comprehensive Cancer Network/Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy Head & Neck Cancer Symptom Index - 22 Item Version (NFHNSI-22)
VERSION:
2
NUMBER OF ITEMS:
22
PATIENT POPULATION:
Head & neck cancer patients 18 years and older
RECALL PERIOD:
Past 7 days
RESPONSE SCALE:
5 point Likert-type scale
DATA COLLECTION:
Paper and electronic
ADMINISTRATION:
Self-administration and interview when applicable
SUBSCALE DOMAINS:
Disease-Related Symptoms – Physical, Disease-Related Symptoms – Emotional, Treatment Side Effects, Function/Well-Being
TIME FOR COMPLETION:
5-10 minutes
SCORING:
Manual scoring template, some items are reverse scored. Subscale scores and total scores possible.
RELATED MEASURES:
Language Availability
Available translations of the NFHNSI-22 can be obtained by registering for permission. Users are not permitted to translate the NFHNSI-22 without permission from FACIT.org. Permission from FACIT.org to translate the NFHNSI-22 may also be contingent upon timeline expectations and availability of FACIT staff. Translations must undergo a rigorous methodology under the guidance of FACIT.org which includes multiple translators, QA steps and cognitive interviews with patients. For commercial use, FACITtrans is the approved translation vendor to translate the FACIT measurement system.
Please contact us for more information.
Licensing
Licensing fees are assessed on a per trial/per measure basis for commercial use. There is no fee for use of the English version, but a license should be obtained.
Non-commercial use is assessed on a case-by-case basis. Licensing fees are typically not applied to investigator-initiated research, students, or clinical use.
To license an available version of this measure for commercial or non-commercial use, please complete our registration form. All of the information provided in the form will be kept strictly confidential. For questions, please contact us.
Selected References
Cella, D., Paul, D., Yount, S., Winn, R., Chang, C-H, Banik, D., & Weeks, J. What are the most important symptom targets when treating advanced cancer? A survey of providers in the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN). Cancer Investigation 2003; 21(4): 526-535. doi: 10.108/CNV-120022366.
Cella, D., Rosenbloom, S., Beaumont, J., Yount, J., Paul, D., Hampton, D., Abernethy, A., Jacobsen, P., Syrjala, K., & Von Roenn, J. Development and validation of 11 symptom indexes to evaluate response to chemotherapy for advanced cancer. Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network; 2011; 9(3): 268-278. doi: 10.6004/jnccn.2011.0026.
Pearman, T., Beaumont, J., Paul, D., Abernethy, A., Jacobsen, P., Syrjala, K., von Roenn, J., & Cella, D. Evaluation of treatment and disease-related symptoms in advanced head and neck cancer: validation of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Head and Neck cancer symptom index (NFHNSI-22). Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 2013; 46(1): 113-120. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2012.06.004.
Rosenbloom, S., Yount, S., Yost, K., Hampton, D., Paul, D., Abernethy, A., Jacobsen, P., Syrjala, K., Von Roenn, J., Cella, D. Development and validation of eleven symptom indices to evaluate response to chemotherapy for advanced cancer: Measurement compliance with regulatory demands. Farquhar, I., Summers, K., Sorkin, A. (Eds.). The Value of Innovation: Impacts on Health, Life Quality and Regulatory Research. Emerald Group Publishing Inc. 2007; 16: 53-66. doi: 10.1016/S0194-3960(08)16003-6.
Bonomi, A.E., Cella, D.D., Hahn, E.A., Bjordal, K., Sperner, B., Gangeri, L., Bergman, B., Willems, J., Hanquet, P., & Zittoun, R. Multilingual translation of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT) quality of life measurement system. Quality of Life Research 1996; 5: 309-320.
Eremenco, S., Arnold, B., Cella, D. A comprehensive method for the translation and cross-cultural validation of health status questionnaires. Evaluation & the Health Professions 2005; 28(2): 212-232.
Webster K., Cella D., Yost K. The Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT) measurement system: Properties applications, and interpretation. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes 2003; 1(1): 79-85.
Yost K.J., Eton D.T. Combining distribution- and anchor-based approaches to determine minimally important differences: The FACIT experience. Evaluation & the Health Professions 2005; 28(2): 172-191.
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