Rotterdam Symptom Checklist

Name of Questionnaire

Rotterdam Symptom Checklist (RSC)

Description

Cancer-specific tool to measure psychological and physical distress in cancer patients participating in clinical research. Validation in various cancer populations. Patients are asked to indicate the degree to which they have been bothered by the indicated symptoms in the past week.

Developer

JCJM de Haes, FCE van Knippenberg, JFA Pruyn, JP Neijt

Address

Johanna C.J.M. de Haes, PhD
Department Medical Psychology
University Hospital (AMC)
Mejbergdreef 15
1105 AZ Amsterdam
The Netherlands

E-mail

e.m.verkoosen@amc.uva.nl

Cost & availability

Manual costs 50 Dutch guilders.

Administration

Self

Time to complete

8 minutes

Number of items

30 (+ 8 on activities of daily living)

Domains & categories

3

Name of categories/domains

Physical symptoms, psychological symptoms, activities of daily living

Scaling of items

4-point Likert-type scales (not at all, a little, quite a bit, very much)

Scoring

For each item, score ranges from 1 to 4.

Reliability

Validity

Compared as expected with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale (study of patients from a general cancer population who exhibitied evidence of psychopathology)²

Responsiveness

Not reported

Minimally important difference

Not reported

Research use

Reported - symptoms at presentation for treatment³, palliative two-fraction vs. more intensive 13-fraction radiotherapy for inoperable non-small cell lung cancer and good performance status⁴, oral etoposide treatment for advanced small-cell lung cancer⁵, comparison of four-drug vs. less intensive two-drug chemotherapy in palliative treatment of patients with small cell lung cancer and poor prognosis⁶, CHART vs. conventional radiotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer⁷, prophylactic cranial irradiation in small cell lung cancer⁸, comparison of doctors' and patients' ratings of patients' physical symptoms⁹

Clinical use

Not reported

Language

Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Portuguese (2 versions), Servic, Spanish, Tjecho-Slovene

References

1. de Haes JCJM, van Knippenberg FCE, Neijt JP. Measuring psychological and physical distress in cancer patients: structure and application of the Rotterdam Symptom Checklist. Br J Cancer 1990;62:1034-8.
2. Watson M, Law M, Maguire GP, et al. Further development of a quality of life measure for cancer patients: the Rotterdam Symptom Checklist (revised). Psycho-oncology 1992;1:35-44.
3. Hopwood P, Stephens RJ. Symptoms at presentation for treatment in patients with lung cancer: implications for the evaluation of palliative treatment. The Medical Research Council (MRC) Lung Cancer Working Party. Br J Cancer 1995;71(3):633-6.
4. Macbeth FR, Bolger JJ, Hopwood P, Bleehen NM, Cartmell J, Girling DH, Machin D, Stephens RJ, Bailey AJ. Randomized tiral of palliative two-fraction versus more intensive 13-fraction radiotherapy for patients with inoperable non-small cell lung cancer and good performance status. Clin Oncol (R Coll Radiol) 1996;8(3):167-75.
5. Souhami Rl, Spiro SG, Rudd RM, Ruiz de Elvira M, James LE, Gower NH, Lamont A, Harper PG. Five-day oral etoposide treatment for advanced small-cell lung cancer: randomized comparison with intravenous chemotherapy. J Natl CancereInst 1997;89(8):577-80.
6. Bleehen NM, Girling DJ, Hopwood P, Lallemand G, Machin D, Stephens RJ, Bailey AJ. Randomized trial of four-drug vs less intensive two-drug chemotherapy in the palliative treatment of patients with small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) and poor prognosis. Medical Research Council Lung Cancer Working Party. Br J Cancer 1996;73(3):406-13.
7. Bailey AJ, Parmar MK et al. Patient-reported short-term and long-term physical and psychologic symptoms: results of the continuous hyperfractionated accelerated radiotherapy (CHART) randomized trial in non-small-cell lung cancer. CHART Steering Committee. J Clin Oncol 1998;16(9):3082-93.
8. Gregor A, Cull A, Stephens RJ et al. Prophylactic cranial irradiation is indicated following complete response to induction therapy in small cell lung cancer: results of a multicentre randomised trial. United Kingdom Coordinating Committee for CAncer Research (UKCCCR) and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC). Eur J Cancer 1997;33(11):1752-8.
9. Stephens RJ, Hopwood P, Girling DJ, Machin D. Randomized trials with quality of life endpoints: are doctors' ratings of patients' physical symptoms interchangeable with patients' self-ratings? Qual Life Res 1997;6:225-36.