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- Departments, Labs and Institutes
- Departments and Divisions
- Symptom Research
- Symptom Assessment Tools
Symptom Assessment Tools
A symptom is a sensation or perception of change related to health function experienced by an individual. Symptoms such as fatigue, pain, and nausea can be classified according to their severity and perceived impact on function. Symptoms add to the burden of having a chronic disease, such as cancer, and the affect virtually all aspects of life. Symptoms interfere with a person's mood, level of activity, and ability to relate to others.
Symptoms are best understood through self-report from patients at specific stages of specific types of cancer. Such patient-reported outcomes (PROs) have been recognized by the US Food and Drug Administration as legitimate primary outcome variables for clinical trials. The Department of Symptom Research designs and licenses fit-for-purpose PRO-based assessment tools to measure the symptoms experienced by cancer patients, to determine their severity and how they affect quality of life.
Brief Pain Inventory
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Brief Fatigue Inventory
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MD Anderson Symptom Inventory
Future Language Validation Studies
We would like to collaborate with other investigators to develop and validate new language versions of our instruments. Contact us at symptomresearch@mdanderson.org for more information.
NOTE: Our instruments may not be modified or translated into another language without the express written consent of the copyright holder (see Notice of Copyright below).
Notice of Copyright
The Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI), and the MD Anderson Symptom Inventory (MDASI) and all of their variants, derivatives, and modules are copyrighted instruments. The copyright applies to all language versions of these instruments.
The BPI, BFI, MDASI, and their derivatives may not be used or reproduced without permission from Charles S. Cleeland, PhD, or his designee. Failure to comply may result in legal action. Please use our order form to request the instrument(s) you need. Fees may apply.
The BPI, BFI, MDASI, and their derivatives may not be modified or translated into another language without the express written consent of Charles S. Cleeland, PhD, or his designee. Failure to comply may result in legal action.
Contact us at symptomresearch@mdanderson.org to obtain permission to alter or translate the instrument.
Ease of Use and Readability
Our symptom assessment tools are understandable even by grade-school children, according to the Flesch scoring systems described below.
Flesch Reading Ease score: Rates text on a 100-point scale; the higher the score, the easier it is to understand the document. Most standard documents aim for a score of approximately 60 to 70.
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level score: Rates text on a U.S. grade-school level. For example, a score of 8.0 means that an eighth grader can understand the document. Most standard documents aim for a score of approximately 7.0 to 8.0.
| Flesch Reading Ease | Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level | |
|---|---|---|
| BPI (short form) | 83.5 | 5.1 |
| BFI | 70.7 | 6.4 |
| MDASI | 82.3 | 3.6 |
The simplicity of the tools facilitates cross-cultural studies of pain and other patient-reported cancer-related symptoms. Validation studies have not been conducted using our assessment tools in the pediatric population, aged 18 years and younger.