The cancer empowerment questionnaire: psychological empowerment in breast cancer survivors

New models of cancer care and survivorship ask for empowered patients. But how do we measure that patients can derive strength from themselves (intrapersonal) and their perceived social support (interpersonal)? The 40-item Cancer Empowerment Questionnaire (CEQ) measures psychological empowerment as an individual outcome measure. The CEQ was validated in 140 nonmetastatic female breast cancer survivors (mean 5.5 years postsurgery). Principal component analysis elicited four factors representing intrapersonal (personal strength) and interpersonal (social support, community, health care) aspects of empowerment. The CEQ provides a reliable (Cronbach's α = 0.73–0.94) and valid first attempt to operationalize psychological empowerment in cancer care.