Development of mini-SSPedi for children 4-7years of age receiving cancer treatments

BackgroundThe Symptom Screening in Pediatrics Tool (SSPedi) is valid for assessing symptoms in children aged 8-18years receiving cancer treatments. The objective was to develop a new self-report symptom screening tool for children receiving cancer treatments who are 4-7years of age (mini-SSPedi), based on SSPedi.MethodsRespondents were children with cancer or pediatric hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) recipients who were 4-7years of age. We included the same 15 symptoms contained in SSPedi. Using cognitive interviewing, we developed mini-SSPedi in three phases and made decisions based upon respondent understanding. First, we developed questionnaire structure regarding recall period, concept of bother and response option format. Second, we determined wording of each symptom. Third, we evaluated the entire mini-SSPedi instrument for understanding and ease of completion.ResultsWe enrolled 100 participants in total and included 30, 40 and 30 in each of the three phases. Questionnaire structure was satisfactory with a recall period of today and a faces-based 3-point Likert scale. Bother was well-understood. Five symptoms required modification to achieve satisfactory understanding while the remaining 10 SSPedi symptoms did not require modification. Among the last 10 children enrolled, all understood each mini-SSPedi item and none thought mini-SSPedi was hard to complete.ConclusionWe developed a symptom screening tool for children with cancer and pediatric HSCT recipients between 4 and 7years of age that is understandable and easy to complete. Future work will evaluate the psychometric properties of mini-SSPedi and develop an electronic version of the instrument.