Publications

Evaluating the measurement properties of the 26-item Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC-26) with a multicenter cohort

Evaluating the measurement properties of the 26-item Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC-26) with a multicenter cohort

 2020 Apr; 14(4): 111–117.
Published online 2019 Oct 18. doi: 10.5489/cuaj.5997
PMCID: PMC7124185
PMID: 31702548

Evaluating the measurement properties of the 26-item Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC-26) with a multicenter cohort

Abstract

Introduction

We aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the 26-item Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC-26) for measuring the quality of life in patients treated for localized prostate cancer. The EPIC-26 is a patient-reported outcome instrument recommended for use with patients treated for localized prostate cancer.

Methods

This study is based on data collected prospectively between September 2014 and February 2017 in Alberta, Canada. Men were treated with either radical prostatectomy or radiation therapy and administered the EPIC-26. Responses to the EPIC-26 were the primary outcome. Construct validity was measured using confirmatory factor analysis. Reliability was measured using Chronbach’s alpha and item-total correlation. Ceiling and floor effects were also investigated.

Results

EPIC-26 response data from 205 participants (prostatectomy =138; radiation=60; both=7) were used in this analysis. The EPIC-26 was administered an average of 33.8 weeks after treatment. The confirmatory factor analysis model did not meet the threshold for adequate fit. Several items had near-zero factor loadings and were non-significant. Four out of the EPIC-26’s five domains met the acceptable reliability threshold based on Cronbach’s alpha. Ceiling effects were observed in four out of five domains.

Conclusions

The EPIC-26 demonstrated poor construct validity, adequate reliability, and large ceiling effects. Several issues were observed, suggesting that the instrument’s five domains were not well-defined by their respective items. The original EPIC’s conceptual framework should be reviewed and the shortened instrument revised to improve its performance for measuring post-treatment quality of life.

Congratulations to first place winner Doug Brown!

Congratulations to PhD grad student Doug Brown for his First Place win at the 2018 University of Alberta Student Falling Walls Lab Competition! Doug’s First Place award also gains him an entry and an all-expenses-paid trip to the highly competitive and prestigious Falling Walls Lab Conference in Berlin, November 8-9, 2018!

Fifteen student presenters pitched their innovative and globally-important research ideas in a short 3 minute presentation to a panel of science and tech-business savvy judges and a large cheering audience on September 19, 2018, at the University of Alberta in a high-stakes “TEDTalk” meets “Dragon’s Den” style. The competition was very strong but Doug gave an inspired speech on breaking down the walls of metastatic cancers using new lipid nanoparticle technology that he is helping to develop during his graduate studies in Dr. John Lewis’ laboratory.

The Sept 19th UofA Falling Walls Lab competition will be featured on Global News on the evening of Sept. 20th, around 6:15 pm. Check it out!

Doug will be taking his pitch to the Falling Walls Lab competition in Berlin, Germany this November where he will compete with many other inspirational students at this international event.

This is doubly exciting for the Lewis lab because John Lewis recently won the UofA Falling Walls Venture competition that was held on Aug 29, 2018 and he will be competing in the Berlin Falling Walls Venture!

Good luck to both Doug and John at the Falling Walls Finale in Berlin!

- Perrin Beatty