The Development of a Comprehensive Instrument to Measure Symptoms and Symptom Distress in Women After Treatment for Breast Cancer

Marcia Boehmke, RN, DNS, Principal Investigator

Funded by the Department of Defense

Abstract:

The death rate from breast cancer has significantly declined especially among younger women. Yet little is known how the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer has affected their lives. A dearth of information exists concerning symptomotology that continues once treatment is complete, the distress it causes women, its impact on daily living and symptom trajectory.

This Clinical Traineeship Award will provide me with the opportunity to take formal courses, work with nurse scientist experts in the field of breast cancer and explore the symptom experience and resultant distress in breast cancer survivors once treatment is complete. The oncology courses at Roswell Park as well as working with Dr. Yasko will provide insight into research protocols and clinical trials. The course in the Women's Studies Division will provide an in-depth understanding of the menopausal experience in healthy women, allowing for a comparison with women undergoing breast cancer treatment. The Measurement Construction course will be foundational in both instrument development and my future research that will involve psychometric testing of the new instrument. The Clinical trials course will increase my knowledge of grantsmanship and assist me seeking and writing for future funding opportunities to test the new instrument.

The award will provide me with an opportunity to work more closely with Dr. Jean Brown at the University at Buffalo, nationally recognized for her research involving nutrition and symptom management. Her expertise in design and data analysis will provide me with more training and experience in both. She along with Dr. Wu will assist me in the development of the new comprehensive instrument to measure symptom distress in women post-treatment and will help me with future psychometric instrument testing. The award will provide me an opportunity to go to Yale University and consult with Drs. McCorkle and Knobf, two nationally known experts in breast cancer and symptom distress. Dr. McCorkle developed one of the first instruments used to measure symptom distress in cancer patients and she has agreed to help me in the development of the new instrument. Her assistance in the project will be invaluable. Dr. Knobf, long recognized for her work in breast cancer and study of menopausal symptoms experienced by women during treatment, will likewise provide insight that cannot be obtained from purely reading research studies. She has agreed to consult on instrument development and future testing of the instrument in her ongoing research studies.

Gaining information about the symptom experience and distress it cause women and applying this information in the development of a new comprehensive instrument to measure this distress is the first step in my program of research. This award will provide me with the funds to take courses, travel, and provide relief time from classroom teaching. Once the instrument is developed, I intend to purse validating its psychometrics so that it can be used in clinical practice to identify symptoms and women at risk for the development of post-treatment symptom distress. Once this can be done effectually and accurately, appropriate interventions can be developed to help women with breast cancer go about living the lives they have been given back.