An Instrument to Measure Symptom Experience: SYMPTOM OCCURRENCE AND SYMPTOM DISTRESS

This article describes the development of an instrument that measures symptom experience (symptom occurrence and symptom distress). The Adapted Symptom Distress Scale-2 (ASDS-2), adapted from the McCorkle and Young Distress Scale, is a 31-item, 5-point, self-report paper-and-pencil instrument that measures patients’ perception of the occurrence and distress of 14 symptomsnausea, vomiting, pain, eating, sleep, fatigue, bowel elimination, breathing, coughing, concentration, lacrimation, changes in body temperature, appearance, and restlessness. Use of the instrument yields a total score for symptom experience, scores for symptom occurrence, scores for symptom distress, and subscale scores for six symptom categoriesgastrointestinal, fatigue/restlessness, concentration, pain/discomfort, respiratory, and appearance. Reliability and validity were determined with well adults (n = 97), medical-surgical patients (n = 82), and oncology patients (n = 175). Findings revealed a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.91 for symptom experience, 0.90 for symptom occurrence, and 0.76 for symptom distress. Cronbach’s alpha for the subscales ranged from 0.38 for appearance symptoms to 0.83 for gastrointestinal symptoms. Inclusion of symptoms reported by patients with cancer strengthened content validity. A contrasted groups approach was used to demonstrate construct validity.