Validation of a Single Item Measure for Financial Toxicity Screening in Patients With Breast Cancer.

Publication/Presentation Date

8-1-2025

Abstract

PURPOSE: Financial toxicity (FT) has been linked to higher symptom burden and poorer clinical outcomes for patients with cancer. Despite the availability of validated tools to measure FT, a simple screen remains an unmet need. We evaluated item 12 ("My illness has been a financial hardship to my family and me") of the COmprehensive Score for Financial Toxicity (COST) measure as a single-item FT screening measure.

METHODS: In this secondary analysis, 711 patients with cancer (690 with breast cancer) were recruited via a web-based survey from a philanthropic organization. COST items 1-11 were scored according to Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy scoring guidelines, with lower scores indicating worse FT. Analyses focused on establishing a correlation, examining item properties, and sensitivity/specificity of item 12 relative to the total COST score.

RESULTS: Item 12 had a correlation of

CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, this is the first validation of a single-item screening measure for FT. Overall, these results illustrate that item 12 from the COST measure is a good candidate for a single-item screener. Clinicians can choose among item 12 screening thresholds depending on their tolerance for low specificity.

Volume

21

Issue

8

First Page

1134

Last Page

1141

ISSN

2688-1535

Disciplines

Business Administration, Management, and Operations | Health and Medical Administration | Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods

PubMedID

39854655

Department(s)

Administration and Leadership

Document Type

Article

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