The Psychometric Properties of Taiwanese Version of the Memorial Anxiety Scale for Prostate Cancer

Context: The Memorial Anxiety Scale for Prostate Cancer (MAX-PC) has been used in different countries to assess the specific anxiety of patients with prostate cancer. Objectives: This research aims to test the reliability and validity of the Taiwanese version of the MAX-PC (MAX-PC-T). Methods: Patients with prostate cancer in the urology clinics of three hospitals are recruited via a convenience sampling. Patients completed the MAX-PC-T, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), and the Short Form (SF)-12 Health Survey. The internal consistency is tested to determine the reliability of the MAX-PC-T. The correlation among the MAX-PC-T, PANAS, and SF-12 is used to test concurrent and discriminant validity. Confirmatory factor analysis is performed to determine the convergent and discriminant validity of the scale. Results: The MAX-PC-T conforms to the three structures of the original MAX-PC, which includes the prostate cancer anxiety subscale, prostate-specific antigen anxiety subscale, and fear of recurrence subscale. The factor loading of the items in each subscale is >0.50. The MAX-PC-T was significantly negatively correlated with the positive affect subscale of the PANAS and the mental component summary of the SF-12 and significantly positively correlated with the negative affect subscale of the PANAS. Cronbach's α value of internal consistency is 0.94 in the MAX-PC-T. Conclusion: The MAX-PC-T demonstrates appropriate reliability and validity. It can be used with patients with prostate cancer to assess their specific anxiety.