The 'Psychosocial Aspects in Hereditary Cancer' questionnaire in women attending breast cancer genetic clinics: Psychometric validation across French-, German-and Spanish-language versions

International audienceBackgroundTo design appropriate cancer genetic services for women at high breast cancer (BC) risk, it is essentialto accurately assess their levels of genetic-specific psychosocial difficulties. We performed acomprehensive assessment of the psychometrics of the ‘Psychosocial Aspects in Hereditary Cancer’(PAHC) questionnaire in French, German and Spanish.MethodsWomen consecutively approached in Cancer Genetic Clinics completed the PAHC, distress (HADS,IES-R) and satisfaction questionnaires at pre-testing (T1) and after the genetic test result disclosure(T2).ResultsOf 738 eligible counselees, 214 (90%) in France (Paris), 301 (92%) in Germany (Cologne) and 133(77%) in Spain (Barcelona) completed the PAHC. A six-factor, revised PAHC model yielded acceptableCFA goodness-of-fit indexes and good all scales internal consistencies. PAHC scales demonstratedexpected conceptual differences with distress and satisfaction with counselling. Different levels ofpsychosocial difficulties were evidenced between counselees’ subgroups and over time (p values