Evaluation of Psychometric Properties of Turkish Version of Cancer Awareness Scale in Adolescents

This study aimed to evaluate the cultural relevance and psychometric properties of the Cancer Awareness Measure for Adolescents in Turkish society. The comparative correlational methodological type of research was conducted with 400 students who attended Selma Yiğitalp Anatolian High School, Atatürk High School, İzmir Kız High School, Namık Kemal High School, Karataş Anatolian High School, Fevzi Özakat Anatolian High School and Nevvar Salih İşgören Anatolian High School between February 2021 and July 2021. The research data were collected by remote access electronically, by means of a survey method, by being delivered to the students with the Google Survey feature. "Basic Demographic Data Collection Form" and "Cancer Awareness Measure (KFÖ)-CAM" were used to collect data. The evaluation of the data was made by the researchers using the SPSS 22.00 program in computer environment. Test-retest and internal consistency methods were used in the reliability study of the scale, and in the validity study; language and concept validity, scope (content) validity methods were used. Students participating in the research which was %75,5 girls and %24,5 boys. 67.8% to the question about the symptoms of cancer and 35% to the question about cancer prevention scored between 1-5 out of 10. The average score the students got from CAM was found to be 45.607.23. The mean scores of the scale had a normal distribution and the statistical significance level was accepted as p<.05. It has been determined that CAM is linguistically and conceptually sufficient. The total scale CVI value was found to be adequate with .99, and the ICC value was found to be perfectly compatible with .95. The reliability coefficients of the sub-dimensions were .74 for warning signs, .62 for risk factors, .62 for most common cancers, and .72 for Ministry of Health screening programs and age at first invitation. The overall scale reliability coefficient is .72. It was determined that the item-sub-dimension score correlation coefficients of the scale were between .33-.75 and the reliability level of all items with their sub-dimension total scores was highly significant (p<.001). In the test-retest, the scores obtained from the total and sub-dimensions of the scale were sufficient and the compliance was found to be between .77-.93. KFÖ-CAM is a valid and reliable tool is a scale that can be used in adolescent. Keywords: adolescents, validity, reliability, cancer awareness measure