Oral Presentation 2025 National Cancer Survivorship Conference

Introducing the MASCC COG-IMPACT: An Unmet Needs Assessment for Cancer-Related Cognitive Impairment Impact Developed by the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer. (#8)

Darren Haywood 1 2 , Alexandre Chan 3 , Raymond J Chan 4 , Frank D Baughman 5 , Evan Dauer 1 , Haryana Dhillon 6 , Ashley M Henneghan 7 , Blake J Lawrence 5 , Maryam B Lustburg 8 , Moira O'Connor 5 , Janette Vardy 9 , Susan L Rossell 10 , Nicolas H Hart 1
  1. School of Sport, Exercise, and Rehabilitation, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney
  2. St. Vincent's Hospital Melbourne, Fitzroy
  3. School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, Irvine
  4. Caring Futures Institute, Flinders Univers, Adelaide
  5. School of Population Health, Curtin University, Perth
  6. School of Psychology, University of Sydney, Sydney
  7. School of Nursing, University of Texas, Texas
  8. School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven
  9. Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney
  10. Centre for Mental Health and Brain Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn

Cancer-related cognitive impairment (CRCI) can have a profound impact on the lives of cancer survivors. A multitude of subjective and objective assessment tools exist to assess the presence and severity of CRCI. However, no purpose-built tool exists to assess unmet needs of cancer survivors directly relating to CRCI. This paper details the development and initial validation of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer - Unmet Needs Assessment of Cancer-Related Cognitive Impairment Impact (The MASCC COG-IMPACT) [1,2]. A multistep mixed methods measurement development and validation approach was taken with a strong emphasis on co-design. Qualitative interviews were conducted with cancer survivors (n = 32) and oncology health professionals (n = 19), followed by a modified Delphi survey with oncology health professionals (n = 29). Cognitive interviews with cancer survivors (n = 22) over two rounds were then conducted to finalise the unmet needs assessment tool for CRCI. Four-hundred and ninety-one (n = 491) cancer survivors then completed the MASCC COG-IMPACT and other established measures to inform structural, reliability, validity, acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility analyses. The final MASCC COG-IMPACT is a 55-item and eight subscale tool including two indices; ‘difficulties’ and ‘unmet needs’. The MASCC COG-IMPACT was found to have strong structural validity, convergent validity, discriminant validity, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability. The MASCC COG-IMPACT was also found to be highly acceptable, appropriate, and feasible [1]. The MASCC COG-IMPACT may facilitate optimal care and referral in line with a cancer survivor’s CRCI-related difficulties and unmet needs. The MASCC COG-IMPACT may also be used to explore factors and contributors to CRCI-related difficulties and unmet needs. Overall, the MASCC COG-IMPACT is a highly reliable and valid tool for the assessment of CRCI-related difficulties and unmet needs in both clinical and research settings.

  1. Haywood, D., Chan, A., Chan, R.J., Baughman, F.D., Dauer, E., Dhillon, Haryana M., Henneghan, A.M., Lawrence, B.J., Lustberg, M., O’Connor, M., Vardy, J., Rossell, S., & Hart, N.H. (In-Press). Supportive Care in Cancer
  2. Haywood, D., O’Connor, M., Baughman, F. D., Chan, A., Chan, R. J., Dauer, E., ... & Hart, N. H. (2024). Protocol for the development and initial validation of the COG-IMPACT tool: a purpose-built unmet needs assessment for cancer-related cognitive impairment. Methods and Protocols, 7(4).