Measurement properties of the Danish version of the Awareness and Beliefs about Cancer (ABC) measure

Hvidberg, Line; Pedersen, Anette Fischer; Wulff, Christian Nielsen; Carlsen, Anders Helles; Vedsted, Peter

doi:10.1186/s12874-017-0352-2

BMC Medical Research Methodology

Table 4 Test-retest reliability of the ABC measure

From: Measurement properties of the Danish version of the Awareness and Beliefs about Cancer (ABC) measure

	N	Agreement (%)	Expected agreement (%)	Kappa	ICC (95% CI)
Anticipated patient interval for healthcare seeking
Response options: I would go as soon as I noticed; up to 1 week; over 1 up to 2 weeks; over 2 up to 3 weeks; over 3 up to 4 weeks; more than a month; I would go to another healthcare professional; I would not contact my doctor.
Q5. A persistent cough	119	95.6	87.3	0.65
Q6. Rectal bleeding	120	98.5	92.7	0.80
Q7. Any breast changes^b	75	95.4	92.0	0.43
Q8. Abdominal bloating	115	94.2	80.4	0.70
Awareness of cancer symptoms
Response options: yes and no.
Q9. Unexplained lump or swelling	122	90.2	87.7	0.20
Q10. Persistent unexplained pain	116	77.6	62.3	0.41
Q11. Unexplained bleeding	116	88.8	78.1	0.49
Q12. Persistent cough or hoarseness	119	84.9	63.9	0.58
Q13. Change in bowel or bladder habits	118	88.1	68.6	0.62
Q14. Persistent difficulty in swallowing	117	90.6	67.9	0.71
Q15. Change in the appearance of a mole	123	98.4	98.4	−0.01
Q16. Sore that does not heal	107	82.2	65.4	0.49
Q17. Unexplained night sweats	100	81.0	63.4	0.48
Q18. Unexplained weight loss	119	95.0	84.6	0.67
Q19. Unexplained tiredness	115	86.1	65.0	0.60
The total score of cancer symptom awareness	123	-	-	-	0.80 (0.72–0.86)
Anticipated barriers for healthcare seeking
Response options: yes, often; yes, sometimes; no.
Q24. I would be too embarrassed	123	98.0	92.6	0.72
Q25. I would be worried about wasting the doctor’s time	123	98.0	91.0	0.77
Q26. I would be worried about what the doctor might find	123	95.9	88.0	0.66
Q27. I am too busy to make time to go to the doctor	123	96.3	87.7	0.70
Beliefs about cancer
Response options: strongly disagree; tend to disagree; tend to agree; strongly agree.
Q28. People with cancer can expect to continue with normal activities	119	93.2	88.2	0.42
Q29. Most cancer treatment is worse than the cancer itself	103	93.3	81.0	0.65
Q30. Not want to know if I have cancer	122	96.7	94.3	0.43
Q31. Cancer can often be cured	123	94.2	90.9	0.37
Q32. Going to the doctor as quickly as possible could increase the chances of surviving	122	95.7	93.2	0.37
Q33. A diagnosis of cancer is a death sentence	122	91.3	84.5	0.44
Awareness of 5-year survival from cancer
Response options: 0; 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 9; 10.
Q34. Out of 10 people diagnosed with bowel cancer, how many do you think would be alive 5 years later?	112	96.2	93.5	0.42
Q35. Out of 10 people diagnosed with breast cancer, how many do you think would be alive 5 years later?	120	96.7	91.7	0.60
Q36. Out of 10 people diagnosed with ovarian cancer, how many do you think would be alive 5 years later?	109	97.5	90.2	0.74
Q37. Out of 10 people diagnosed with lung cancer, how many do you think would be alive 5 years later?	120	97.8	92.7	0.70
Breast cancer screening behaviour^b
Response options: yes; no.
QM1. Breast cancer screening behavior	38	97.4	75.2	0.89
Bowel cancer screening behaviour^c
Response options: yes; no.
QM2. Bowel cancer screening behavior	68	100	83.9	1
Beliefs about breast cancer screening^a
Response options: strongly disagree; tend to disagree; tend to agree; strongly agree.
QM3. So worried about what might be found at breast cancer screening, that I would prefer not to do it	75	98.4	95.2	0.66
QM4. Breast cancer screening is only necessary if I have symptoms	75	92.4	78.0	0.66
QM5. Breast cancer screening could reduce my chances of dying from breast cancer	74	96.7	87.9	0.73
Beliefs about bowel cancer screening
Response options: strongly disagree; tend to disagree; tend to agree; strongly agree.
QM6. So worried about what might be found at bowel cancer screening, that I would prefer not to do it	121	97.0	95.1	0.38
QM7. Bowel cancer screening is only necessary if I have symptoms	116	87.9	70.8	0.59
QM8. Bowel cancer screening could reduce my chances of dying from bowel cancer	115	92.8	88.6	0.36
Awareness of growing risk of cancer with age
Response options: 30 year olds; 50 year olds; 70 year olds; people of any age are equally likely to be diagnosed with cancer.
Q38. Growing risk of cancer with age	123	96.5	83.5	0.79
Awareness of risk factors for cancer
Response options: strongly disagree; tend to disagree; tend to agree; strongly agree.
QN1. Smoking	123	98.0	94.8	0.62
QN2. Exposure to passive smoking	122	97.5	89.5	0.76
QN3. Drinking more than 1 unit of alcohol a day	118	90.9	81.6	0.50
QN4. Eating less than 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day	117	90.1	80.1	0.55
QN5. Eating red or processed meat once a day or more	109	91.0	80.5	0.54
QN6. Being obese	117	93.1	81.1	0.63
QN7. Getting sunburnt more than once as a child	120	92.5	79.0	0.64
QN8. Being over 70 years old	121	90.4	77.3	0.57
QN9. Having a close relative with cancer	119	92.1	82.0	0.56
QN10. Infection with HPV, Human Papillomavirus	37	95.2	87.3	0.62
QN11. Not doing much physical activity	120	93.8	83.7	0.62
QN12. Using a solarium	122	97.5	94.3	0.57
QN13. Exposure to ionising radiation from, for example, radioactive materials, x-rays or radon	119	95.7	91.6	0.49
The total score of cancer symptom awareness	121	-	-	-	0.75 (0.67–0.82)
Self or someone close with cancer
Response options: yes, respondent; yes, someone close; yes, both self and someone close; yes, but would prefer not to say who; no.
Q3. Self or someone close with cancer	123	93.5	58.4	0.84
Self-rated health
Response options: very good; good; fair; poor; very poor.
Q20. Self-rated health	123	97.8	92.2	0.71
Access to a doctor
Response options: very difficult; somewhat difficult; somewhat easy; very easy.
Q21. Access to a doctor	122	97.7	92.4	0.70
Smoking behavior
Response options: yes; no.
Q22. Current smoker	123	100	73.9	1.00
Q23. Former smoker	104	94.2	50.0	0.88

^aWeighted kappa computed for women only
^bKappa computed for women ≥ 50 years old
^cKappa computed for men and women ≥ 50 years old

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ISSN: 1471-2288

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