Abstract
Background: Breast cancer is the most frequent type of cancer among women in Turkey. Because of the high incidence of breast cancer, many women have family members who have experienced breast cancer.
Objective: The aim of this study was to test the validity and reliability of the Information and Support Needs Questionnaire (ISNQ) for Turkish women, which was originally developed for use in women with primary relatives who had breast cancer.
Methods: The study sample included 97 women whose primary female relatives had breast cancer. Data were collected with a Demographic Questionnaire and the ISNQ. The ISNQ was developed by Chalmers et al and was composed of 2 scales: the Importance Scale and the Needs Met Scale.
Results: Linguistic validity, translation, back translation, and content validity were tested with expert opinions. Item-to-total correlation scores ranged from 0.22 to 0.72 on the Importance Scale and from 0.23 to 0.60 on the Needs Met Scale. Cronbach [alpha] coefficients were.81 and.83 on the Importance Scale and the Needs Met Scale.
Conclusions: The ISNQ, adapted into Turkish, was found to have sufficient validity and reliability.
Implications for Practice: The questionnaire can be used to determine information and support needs of women whose primary relatives have breast cancer. Nurses and other health professionals can conduct interventions directed toward meeting information and support needs of women whose primary relatives have breast cancer.