Poster Presentation Clinical Oncology Society of Australia Annual Scientific Meeting 2022

Screening for unmet needs of caregivers of people with brain cancer: development of a brief screening measure for use in clinical practice (#249)

Rachel Campbell 1 2 , Joanne Shaw 1 , Georgia Halkett 3 , Mona Faris 1 , Haryana Dhillon 1 2
  1. University of Sydney, Faculty of Science, School of Psychology, Psycho-oncology Co-operative Research Group (PoCoG), Sydney, NSW, Australia
  2. University of Sydney, Faculty of Science, School of Psychology, Centre for Medical Psychology and Evidence-based Decision-making (CeMPED), Sydney, NSW, Australia
  3. Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin School of Nursing, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

Introduction
Individuals caring for people with brain cancer have high levels of unmet needs, impacting their capacity to provide support and care, and leading to poorer long-term psychosocial outcomes. As part of the Brain cancer Rehabilitation, Assessment, Interventions for survivorship Need (BRAINs) program, we are adapting an existing electronic screening portal to identify the needs of caregivers across the brain cancer trajectory to trigger referral for support.

Aim
Our objective was to develop a brief screening measure to assess the unmet needs of caregivers of people with brain cancer feasible for use in clinical practice.

Methods
Secondary analyses were performed on data collected from 188 caregivers of people with brain cancer who completed a 44 item unmet needs survey (SCNS-P&C) in a randomised controlled trial (CARE-IS). Psychometric analyses were conducted to create a brief version of this measure suitable to screen for unmet needs. Items were assessed against 5 psychometric criteria (diagnostic accuracy, variance explained, factor score, prevalence and positive/negative predictive value). Items exceeding pre-specified thresholds for these criteria were considered for inclusion in the final screening measure.

Results
Preliminary results indicate 8 items met these criteria and are candidates for inclusion in the final measure. These include information needs (2 items), health care service needs (2 items), work and social needs (2 items), and psychological and emotional needs (2 items). Psychometric analyses are ongoing and the final version of this brief screening measure will be presented at the COSA annual scientific meeting. 

Conclusion
This brief screening measure will facilitate identification of caregiver’s unmet needs in clinical practice and enable timely referral for tailored support. This will help to ensure equitable access to support services for those caring for people with brain cancer, including people living in rural or remote regions, potentially contributing to better long-term outcomes for this cohort.