Abstract
Introduction
A common side effect of breast cancer treatment is breast cancer related lymphoedema (BCRL), which is associated with many symptoms and often leads to poor quality of life. The Breast Cancer-related Lymphoedema Symptom Experience Index (BCLE-SEI) captures the presence of BCRL-related symptoms and their distress. However, the BCLE-SEI is not available in Indian languages. This study aimed to translate and validate the BCLE-SEI in Bengali.
Methods
The BCLE-SEI was translated, back-translated, and consolidated. The consolidated back translation was checked for equivalence following established guidelines. The BCLE-SEI-Bengali was then validated in 168 Bengali-speaking women with or at risk of developing BCRL. The content validity, exploratory factor analysis, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, construct validity (through hypothesis testing), and known group validity were tested.
Results
The content validity of the BCLE-SEI-Bengali was sufficient. Its items’ relevance, comprehensibility, and comprehensiveness were confirmed by 98%, 99%, and 98% of the participants, respectively. The exploratory factor analysis identified two factors in the symptom occurrence subscale and three factors in the symptom distress subscale, the two of which explained 43.9% and 51 % of the total sample variance, respectively. The internal consistency of dimensions (factors) ranged from α = 0.85 to 0.94. More than 50% of the hypotheses set a priori were true; thus, constructive validity was established. The test-retest reliability (ICC2,1) was 0.46 (95% CI = -0.2 to 0.8, p=0.0.76). Women with and at risk of BCRL are significantly different in symptom occurrence score but not in symptom distress and the overall score.
Conclusions
This study established the critical psychometric properties of the BCLE-SEI Bengali questionnaire. It is, therefore, a valid questionnaire to capture symptom occurrence and symptom distress in women with BCRL who can read and write in Bengali. The test-retest validity and known group validity need further evaluation.
A common side effect of breast cancer treatment is breast cancer related lymphoedema (BCRL), which is associated with many symptoms and often leads to poor quality of life. The Breast Cancer-related Lymphoedema Symptom Experience Index (BCLE-SEI) captures the presence of BCRL-related symptoms and their distress. However, the BCLE-SEI is not available in Indian languages. This study aimed to translate and validate the BCLE-SEI in Bengali.
Methods
The BCLE-SEI was translated, back-translated, and consolidated. The consolidated back translation was checked for equivalence following established guidelines. The BCLE-SEI-Bengali was then validated in 168 Bengali-speaking women with or at risk of developing BCRL. The content validity, exploratory factor analysis, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, construct validity (through hypothesis testing), and known group validity were tested.
Results
The content validity of the BCLE-SEI-Bengali was sufficient. Its items’ relevance, comprehensibility, and comprehensiveness were confirmed by 98%, 99%, and 98% of the participants, respectively. The exploratory factor analysis identified two factors in the symptom occurrence subscale and three factors in the symptom distress subscale, the two of which explained 43.9% and 51 % of the total sample variance, respectively. The internal consistency of dimensions (factors) ranged from α = 0.85 to 0.94. More than 50% of the hypotheses set a priori were true; thus, constructive validity was established. The test-retest reliability (ICC2,1) was 0.46 (95% CI = -0.2 to 0.8, p=0.0.76). Women with and at risk of BCRL are significantly different in symptom occurrence score but not in symptom distress and the overall score.
Conclusions
This study established the critical psychometric properties of the BCLE-SEI Bengali questionnaire. It is, therefore, a valid questionnaire to capture symptom occurrence and symptom distress in women with BCRL who can read and write in Bengali. The test-retest validity and known group validity need further evaluation.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | SURVI-086 |
| Pages (from-to) | 371-372 |
| Number of pages | 2 |
| Journal | Supportive Care in Cancer |
| Volume | 33 |
| Issue number | Supplement 1 Article 583 |
| Publication status | Published - 14 Jun 2025 |
| Event | MASCC/ISOO 2025 Annual Meeting on Supportive Care in Cancer - Seattle, United States Duration: 26 Jun 2025 → 28 Jun 2025 |