Background: Cancer-related stigma impacts patients' emotional health, care engagement, and cancer outcomes, but few measures of cancer stigma exist. We culturally adapted and assessed psychometric properties of the Cataldo Cancer Stigma Scale (CCSS) in Tanzania.
Methods: We administered the CCSS short version (21 items), plus 12 locally-derived items, to 146 adult cancer patients. We conducted exploratory factor analysis, examined internal consistency/reliability, and assessed convergent validity with relevant measures.
Results: We identified a 17-item cancer stigma scale with strong psychometric properties and four subscales: enacted stigma, shame and blame, internalized stigma, and disclosure concerns. Stigma was rare except for disclosure concerns. Stigma was positively associated with depression and anxiety and negatively associated with social support, quality of life, and illness acceptance.
Conclusions: The scale provides valid, culturally-informed measurement of cancer stigma in Tanzania. Future studies should assess associations with care engagement, which will inform interventions to reduce stigma and improve outcomes.
Keywords: Tanzania; cancer; mental health; psychometrics; quality of life; social support; stigma.