Validation of the Chinese version of chemotherapy-induced Taste Alteration Scale among patients with head and neck cancer undergoing radiotherapy.

PURPOSE: To validate the Chinese version of the Chemotherapy-induced Taste Alteration Scale (CiTAS) among patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) undergoing radiotherapy (RT).

METHODS

Patients with HNC undergoing RT were enrolled from a cancer hospital. Data were collected by face-to-face interview. Patients' subjective taste alterations (TAs) were assessed by the CiTAS. The content validity was evaluated by five experts. Confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis were used to assess construct validity. Convergent validity was assessed by the correlation between the CiTAS score and the Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 (QLQ-C30) score. A single-item subjective intensity taste alteration question and quartiles of RT duration were used to assess the discriminant validity. The reliability was assessed by the Cronbach's alpha and test-retest reliability.

RESULTS

253 patients participated this investigation and 25 patients completed twice. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the original CiTAS structure with four dimensions was not applicable to patients with HNC undergoing RT. The Chinese version of modified-CiTAS (m-CiTAS) retained 17 items (the item "bothered by the smell of food" was deleted) loading onto three factors: decline in taste, discomfort, and phantogeusia and parageusia. The m-CiTAS showed acceptable correlations with the QLQ-C30. It could effectively discriminate the intensity of subjective TAs according to the single-item question and quartiles of RT duration. The m-CiTAS showed acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.573-0.958) and test-retest reliability (r = 0.726-0.831, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

The Chinese version of m-CiTAS is an acceptable and applicable instrument to evaluate TAs among patients with HNC undergoing RT.