Transcultural Adaptation and Evaluation of the Psychometric Properties of the Spanish Version of the FCR7 Questionnaire for Assessing Fear of Recurrence in Cancer Patients: FCR6/7-SP

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Fear of recurrence is one of the main issues affecting cancer patients after the completion of treatment. Despite the development of various assessment tools at the international level, there is a lack of validated questionnaires in Spanish. For this reason, the aim of this study is to conduct a transcultural adaptation and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Fear of Cancer Recurrence (FCR7) questionnaire. METHODS: We carried out translation and transcultural adaptation of the FCR7 scale, content validity through expert review, and face validity with a pilot test in the first phase. In the second phase, construct validity was evaluated through confirmatory factor analysis and Rasch analysis, along with reliability (internal consistency), convergent-divergent validation, and known-groups validation in a sample of 315 individuals with a history of cancer. Descriptive and inferential analysis was performed using JAMOVI© v.2.3.24., confirmatory factor analysis with FACTOR© v.12.02.01x64 bits, and Rasch analysis with JMetrik© v.2.0. RESULTS: Aiken's coefficient exceeded 0.75 for all items, indicating acceptable face validity for the instrument. Two unidimensional models were obtained for the instrument, FCR7-SP and FCR6-SP, both showing acceptable fit values and adequate reliability (omega coefficient = 0.933 [95% CI: 0.922-0.944] and 0.942 [95% CI: 0.931-0.951], respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The Spanish version of the FCR7 is valid and reliable for assessing fear of cancer recurrence in the Spanish population, with two models available for its application (FCR7-SP and FCR6-SP). The availability of this tool will enable the evaluation of this phenomenon in clinical practice and a more effective approach to addressing its consequences.