Turkish validity and reliability of the Cancer Stigma Scale (CASS-T)

Abstract

Objectives This study is aimed to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Cancer Stigma Scale for the Turkish population (CASS-T). Methods The sample of the study consisted of 412 students of a foundation university located in Ankara, Turkey. The reliability of the CASS was evaluated using the Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient and item-total score correlations. Exploratory factor analyses were applied to examine the factor structure of the scale and its construct validity. To test the time invariance of the scale, the relationships between the scores obtained from the first and second applications were examined using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Results The Cronbach's alpha coefficient of CASS-T was 0.83. In the factor analysis, it was confirmed that the scale has a six-dimensional structure in parallel to original version, namely Avoidance, Severity, Responsibility, Policy opposition, Awkwardness, and Discrimination. The ICC values all remained in the range that indicates the reliability of the 0.63-0.71 to be substantial. The contribution of the six factors of the CASS-T scale to the variance is 57.8. Significance in results The Turkish version of the CASS was confirmed to have good reliability and validity for evaluating stigma toward cancer in Turkish society.