Psychometric evaluation and design of patient-centered communication measures for cancer care settings.

Objective: To evaluate the psychometric properties of questions that assess patient perceptions of patient-provider communication and design measures of patient-centered communication (PCC).

Methods: Participants (adults with colon or rectal cancer living in North Carolina) completed a survey at 2 to 3 months post-diagnosis. The survey included 87 questions in six PCC Functions: Exchanging Information, Fostering Health Relationships, Making Decisions, Responding to Emotions, Enabling Patient Self-Management, and Managing Uncertainty.

More information from fewer questions: the factor structure and item properties of the original and brief fear of negative evaluation scale.

Statistical methods designed for categorical data were used to perform confirmatory factor analyses and item response theory (IRT) analyses of the Fear of Negative Evaluation scale (FNE; D. Watson & R. Friend, 1969) and the Brief FNE (BFNE; M.