Validation of the French Version of the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System

Abstract Context The Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS) is a brief, widely adopted, multidimensional questionnaire to evaluate patient-reported symptoms. Objectives The objective of this study was to define a standard French version of the ESAS (F-ESAS) to determine the psychometric properties in French-speaking patients. Methods In a first pilot study, health professionals ( n  = 20) and patients ( n  = 33) defined the most adapted terms in French (F-ESAS). In a prospective multicentric study, palliative care patients completed the three forms of F-ESAS (F-ESAS-VI, F-ESAS-VE, and F-ESAS-NU, where VI is visual, VE, verbal, and NU, numerical), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. All patients had a test-retest evaluation during the same half-day. Standardized distraction material was used between each scale. Results One hundred twenty-four patients were included (mean age [±SD]: 68.3 ± 12; 70 women; 54 men). Test-retest reliability was high for all three F-ESAS, and the correlation between these scales was nearly perfect (Spearman r s = 0.66–0.91; P r s = 0.38–0.41 for depression; Spearman r s = 0.48–0.57 for anxiety, P Conclusion The F-ESAS is a valid and reliable tool for measuring multidimensional symptoms in French-speaking patients with an advanced cancer. All forms of F-ESAS performed well with a trend for better psychometric performance for F-ESAS-NU, but patients preferred the F-ESAS-VE.