Exploratory Factor Analysis of a Patient-Centered Cancer Care Measure to Support Improved Assessment of Patients' Experiences.

To increase the understanding of patient-centered care (PCC) and address the need for cross-cutting quality cancer care measures that are relevant to both patients and providers.

An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed on a short version of the Patients and the Cancer Care Experience Survey, a patient-reported measure of perceived importance of social, emotional, physical, and informational aspects of care, administered to adult patients (n = 104) at a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center. Relationships between PCC dimensions and patient characteristics were also assessed. Principal axis factoring was applied and bivariate analyses were performed using Wilcoxon rank-sum tests.

Most of our sample was over 60 years old (63.4%), female (57.4%), and white (74.2%), with either breast (41.2%) or prostate cancer (27.5%). A 5-factor model was identified: (1) quality of life (α = .91), (2) provider social support (α = .83), (3) psychosocial needs (α = .91), (4) nonprovider social support (α = .79), and (5) health information and decision-making support (α = .88). No statistically significant associations were found between these factors and patients' characteristics.

A preliminary factor structure for a cancer PCC measure was identified. Our findings reinforce the interrelated nature of PCC dimensions. The lessons learned from this study may be used to develop a single PCC measure that identifies patient priorities across the cancer care continuum. Data collected from such a measure can be used to support patient engagement in treatment planning and decision-making.

Value in health : the journal of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research. 2019 Dec 09 [Epub]

Kerri-Anne R Mitchell, Kelly J Brassil, Kayo Fujimoto, Bryan M Fellman, Laura Aubree Shay, Andrew E Springer

Department of Health Behavior and Policy, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, VA, USA. Electronic address: ., Pack Health, Birmingham, AL, USA., Department of Health Promotion & Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health, Houston, TX, USA; Department of Biostatistics and Data Science, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health, Houston, TX, USA., Department of Biostatistics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA., Department of Health Promotion & Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health, San Antonio, TX, USA., Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health, Austin, TX, USA.