Development and reliability test of the work stress questionnaire for cancer survivors after returning to work (WSQ-CS)

To develop and conduct an initial psychometric evaluation of a context-specific questionnaire measuring perceived work-related stress among cancer survivors after returning to work. A descriptive phenomenological study was conducted with 20 cancer survivors, and the interview data were analyzed using Colaizzi’s seven-step method to generate the initial item pool. The Transactional Model of Stress served as a sensitizing framework for developing the interview guide.

Two rounds of Delphi expert consultation were conducted between May and July 2022, followed by pilot testing in July 2022. Independent samples of 252 and 200 cancer survivors were recruited from two tertiary hospitals in Nanjing and Taizhou, China, for exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, respectively. The final WSQ-CS comprised 24 items across five dimensions: physiological load, psychological load, economic load, obstruction of self-development, and social support deficit.

The I-CVI values ranged from 0.83 to 1.00, and the S-CVI was 0.966. The overall Cronbach’s α was 0.914. EFA identified a five-factor structure accounting for 63.44% of the total variance.

CFA showed that most fit indices met recommended thresholds, providing preliminary support for the five-factor structure. The questionnaire has undergone rigorous development and psychometric testing, and the findings support its reliability and validity. It can serve as an important assessment tool for the psychosocial rehabilitation of cancer survivors and provides a reliable measurable instrument for related research.

The authors wish to thank Beijing Health Alliance Charitable Foundation for supporting this research. The National Social Science Fund of China (Grant Number:21BSH007). Postgraduate Research and Practice Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province(Grant Number:26CXJY6407).

YuWen Zhou, YuTing Zhong and JingJing Dai contributed equally to this work. School of Nursing and Rehabilitation, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, Jiangsu, China YuWen Zhou, YuTing Zhong, Ping Shen, LingYi Ma & YuJie Guo Taizhou Second People’s Hospital, Yangzhou University, Taizhou, 225300, Jiangsu, China Department of Stomatology, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, Jiangsu, China Department of Hematologic Lymphoma, Nantong Tumor Hospital, Nantong, 226001, Jiangsu, China Correspondence to PeiPei Peng or YuJie Guo. The authors declare no competing interests.