The Cachexia Assessment Scale: Development and Psychometric Properties

Purpose/Objectives: To develop a tool to identify patients with cancer who suffer from cachexia throughout all stages of the disease.

Design: Tool development study.

Setting: Oncology day care, follow-up clinics, radiotherapy, and hospice home care.

Sample: 90 patients with cancer (25 men and 65 women).

Methods: The Cachexia Assessment Scale (CAS) was created based on a thorough review of the literature and was tested for its psychometric properties.

Main Research Variables: Presence of cachexia.

Findings: Measures of reliability were determined by inter-rater, test-retest, and internal consistency reliability. Measures of validity were content validity, criterion validity, sensitivity, and specificity.

Conclusions: The CAS possesses adequate levels of reliability and validity and can be used to evaluate cachexia at all stages of cancer.

Implications for Nursing: The CAS can be used as an assessment tool for cachexia in various treatment settings.