Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40165326›Full record

Trial reportBMC psychology2025

Psychometric properties of the Brief Mishel Uncertainty in illness scales for patients with advanced cancer and their family caregivers.

Ting Guan, Yuexia Zhang, Laurel L Northouse, Lixin Song

Abstract readMulticenter StudyRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in BMC psychology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Ting GuanSchool of Social Work, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USA.
Yuexia ZhangDepartment of Management Science and Statistics, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA.
Laurel L NorthouseSchool of Nursing, The University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Lixin SongSchool of Nursing, The University of Texas Health San Antonio, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, Mail Code 7947, San Antonio, TX, 78229, USA. songl2@uthscsa.edu.

Funding

Outcomes of Triaged Family Care in Advanced CancerR01CA107383 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · PI NORTHOUSE, LAUREL L. · 2004 to 2008
$2.6M
NCI NIH HHS R01 CA107383
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThis study comprehensively examined the psychometric properties of the Brief Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale for patients (MUIS-P) managing advanced cancer and their caregivers (MUIS-Cg).

methodsThe MUIS-P and MUIS-Cg scales were developed based on the Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale-Adult. We conducted a secondary analysis to test the acceptability, factor structure, reliability, and validity of the brief uncertainty scales for patients with advanced cancer (N = 484) and their caregivers (N = 484) using data from a randomized clinical trial.

resultsThe 9-item MUIS-P and MUIS-Cg show goodness of fit for a two-factor structure (unpredictability and ambiguity) with adequate to acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha 0.66-0.78 for patients and 0.70-0.72 for caregivers and McDonald's omega 0.72-0.84 for patients and 0.76-0.79 for caregivers). The MUIS-P and MUIS-Cg scores correlated with negative appraisals of illness/caregiving, hopelessness, and avoidant coping, demonstrating convergent validity. The discriminant validity of the MUIS-P and MUIS-Cg was evidenced by their significant correlations with self-efficacy and active coping. The baseline MUIS-P and MUIS-Cg scores were significantly associated with quality of life, hopelessness, depression, distress, and avoidant coping at the 3-month follow-up, indicating their strong predictive validity.

conclusionThis study comprehensively evaluated the psychometric properties of the MUIS-P and MUIS-Cg, laying a foundation for their use in research and clinical practice among patients and caregivers managing demanding symptoms and care.

Indexed as

CaregiversNeoplasmsAdaptation, PsychologicalAdultAgedFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPsychometricsReproducibility of ResultsSurveys and QuestionnairesUncertaintyAdvanced cancerCaregiverIllness uncertaintyPsychometric propertiesReliabilityValidity

Identifiers

PMID40165326
PMCPMC11959714

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.