5 research outputs found
Cancer Appetite and Symptom Questionnaire (CASQ) for Brazilian Patients: Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Validation Study
Background
Appetite and symptoms, conditions generally reported by the patients with cancer, are
somewhat challenging for professionals to measure directly in clinical routine (latent conditions).
Therefore, specific instruments are required for this purpose. This study aimed to perform
a cultural adaptation of the Cancer Appetite and Symptom Questionnaire (CASQ), into
Portuguese and evaluate its psychometric properties on a sample of Brazilian cancer
patients.
Methods
This is a validation study with Brazilian cancer patients. The face, content, and construct
(factorial and convergent) validities of the Cancer Appetite and Symptom Questionnaire,
the study tool, were estimated. Further, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted.
The ratio of chi-square and degrees of freedom (χ2
/df), comparative fit index (CFI),
goodness of fit index (GFI) and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) were
used for fit model assessment. In addition, the reliability of the instrument was estimated
using the composite reliability (CR) and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient (α), and the invariance
of the model in independent samples was estimated by a multigroup analysis (Δχ2).
Results
Participants included 1,140 cancer patients with a mean age of 53.95 (SD = 13.25) years;
61.3% were women. After the CFA of the original CASQ structure, 2 items with inadequate
factor weights were removed. Four correlations between errors were included to provide
adequate fit to the sample (χ2
/df = 8.532, CFI = .94, GFI = .95, and RMSEA = .08). Themodel exhibited a low convergent validity (AVE = .32). The reliability was adequate
(CR = .82 α = .82). The refined model showed strong invariance in two independent samples
(Δχ2
: λ: p = .855; i: p = .824; Res: p = .390). A weak stability was obtained between
patients undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy (Δχ2
: λ: p = .155; i: p < .001; Res:
p < .001), and between patients undergoing chemotherapy combined with radiotherapy
and palliative care (Δχ2
: λ: p = .058; i: p < .001; Res: p < .001).
Conclusion
The Portuguese version of the CASQ had good face and construct validity and reliability.
However, the CASQ still presented invariance in independent samples of Brazilian patients
with cancer. However, the tool has low convergent validity and weak invariance in samples
with different treatment
Pineapple mealybug wilt-associated virus 1, 2 and 3 infection, in pineapples hybrid 'MD-2' in Ciego de Ávila
The etiology of the mealybug wit of pineapple (MWP) disease is associated with a complex of ampeloviruses (Closteroviridae) named Pineapple mealybug wilt-associated virus-1 to -5 (PMWaV-1 to -5). The aims of this study were to determine the specie of PMWaVs associated with MWP symptoms in pineapples plants hybrid 'MD-2', and virus presence in asymptomatic crowns of the same cultivar. Six symptomatic plants and 25 asymptomatic crowns were collected in pineapples cv. 'MD-2' commercial fields in Ciego de Ávila, during the period 2010-2015. The crowns were used as explants to produce "in vitro" plants. Total RNAs were extracted to detect PMWaV-1, -2 and -3 by RT-PCR. Five of the six MWP symptomatic plants contained PMWaV-2 infection, four of them with mixed infection with PMWaV-1 and/or PMWaV-3. The forty percent of the 25 "in vitro" plants were infected, at least, by one PMWaV, 16 % of the three viral species, 8 % by two, and 16 % by only one virus. The incidence of PMWaVs was 38.5 % either for PMWaV-1 and PMWaV-3 (12/31), and 32.3 % for PMWaV-2 (10/31). These results indicate the need of the sanitary certification of pineapple propagation material