Longitudinal person-centered measurement: A psychometric evaluation of the Preparedness for Colorectal Cancer Surgery Questionnaire (PCSQ)

Abstract Objective The Preparedness for Colorectal Cancer Surgery Questionnaire (PCSQ) was previously developed in Swedish to assess patients’ knowledge seeking and sense making capabilities. Aiming to measure preparedness at different phases during the pre-surgery and recovery period, the objectives were to (a) evaluate psychometric properties of the longitudinal PCSQ, (b) establish measurement invariance over time, and (c) describe change in preparedness. Methods Elective colorectal cancer surgery patients completed a questionnaire at five time points from pre-surgery until 6 months post-surgery (n = 250). The longitudinal PCSQ consists of 23 items measuring four domains: Searching for and making use of information, Understanding and involvement in care, Making sense of recovery, Support and access to care. Psychometric analyses, including confirmatory factor analysis, were applied to evaluate internal consistency reliability and ascertain invariance over time of the measurement structure and parameters. Results The psychometric analyses revealed good fit of the measurement models, high internal consistency reliability (≥.94), and support for configural, metric and scalar measurement invariance of the four PCSQ domains. Patients reported lower levels of preparedness after surgery than pre-surgery. Conclusion The adapted version of the PCSQ can be used for longitudinal analyses. Practice implications The measurement of preparedness is important for evaluating person-centred outcomes before and during recovery from colorectal cancer surgery.