CERN Investigators Publish New Paper on the Impact of Recall Period on Primary Brain Tumor Patient’s Self-report of Symptoms
— Categories: CERN Research Articles Posted on January 6, 2014
Understanding the severity of symptoms that patients with primary brain tumors report is an integral part of patient care and for evaluating treatment benefit in clinical studies.
There is ongoing debate as to whether asking people to rate the severity over the last 24 hours is adequate versus the difficulty of remembering over a longer time period such as 7 days. The aim of this study was to evaluate the congruence (consistency) and equivalency of 24 hour and 7 day symptom reporting using the M.D. Anderson Symptom Inventory-Brain Tumor (MDASI-BT). Overall severity reporting using the 7-day recall was congruent and equivalent with the 24 hour rating, and the instrument demonstrated validity using both recall periods. This study supports the use of 7-day recall period in addition to the 24-hour recall period for symptom report in patients with primary brain tumors.