An instrument to measure symptom experience - Symptom occurrence and symptom distress

This article describes the development of an instrument that measures sympt om experience (symptom occurrence and symptom distress). The Adapted Sympto m Distress Scale-2 (ASDS-2), adapted from the McCorkle and Young Distress S cale, is a 31-item, 5-point, self-report paper-and-pencil instrument that m easures patients' perception of the occurrence and distress of 14 symptoms: nausea, vomiting, pain, eating, sleep, fatigue, bowel elimination, breathi ng, coughing, concentration, lacrimation, changes in body temperature, appe arance, and restlessness. Use of the instrument yields a total score for sy mptom experience, scores for symptom occurrence, scores for symptom distres s, and subscale scores for six symptom categories: gastrointestinal, fatigu e/restlessness, concentration, pain/discomfort, respiratory, and appearance . Reliability and validity were determined with well adults (n = 97), medic al-surgical patients (n = 82), and oncology patients (n = 175). Findings re vealed a Cronbach's alpha of 0.91 for symptom experience, 0.90 for symptom occurrence, and 0.76 for symptom distress. Cronbach's alpha for the subscal es ranged from 0.38 for appearance symptoms to 0.83 for gastrointestinal sy mptoms. inclusion of symptoms reported by patients with cancer strengthened content validity. A contrasted groups approach was used to demonstrate con struct validity.