Psychometric characteristics of a patient reported outcome measure on ego-integrity and despair among cancer patients.

We wanted to evaluate psychometric characteristics of a questionnaire (the Northwestern Ego-integrity Scale (NEIS)) on ego-integrity (the experience of wholeness and meaning in life, even in spite of negative experiences) and despair (the experience of regret about the life one has led, and feelings of sadness, failure and hopelessness) among cancer patients. From 2009 to 2014, cancer patients were recruited for two intervention studies, both were approved by the Medical Ethical Committee of the VU University Medical Center Amsterdam. In the present study, we used baseline data (before start of the intervention) of the patient reported outcomes measures: the NEIS, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the quality of life questionnaires EORTC QLQ-C30 (EORTC QLQ-C30 (cancer survivors) or EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL (advanced cancer patients)). <br>