Development of an Automated Operation Span Task for Breast Cancer Patients Receiving Chemotherapy: A Pilot Study
Keywords:
Working memory, Breast cancer, Chemotherapy, Automated Operation Span Task, Chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairmentAbstract
This research and development study was conducted to develop and evaluate the psycho-metric properties of an automated operation span task (AOSPAN) assessment, among 15 breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. The development process comprised three phases: (1) designing arithmetic problem sets, (2) establishing the test structure and administration protocols, and (3) executing a pilot study. Content validity was ascertained by a panel of five experts. Reliability was assessed through a test–retest method with a two-week interval, and the intraclass correlation co-efficient (ICC) was calculated to determine internal consistency.
The results indicated that the test achieved a content validity index of 1.00. Temporal reliabil-ity between the first and second administrations showed a moderate positive correlation (r = .672), with mean scores of 62.13 and 62.60, respectively. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was .678. The average time required to complete the test was 14.15 and 13.31 minutes. Calculation accuracy was 82.84% and 83.46%, while letter recall accuracy was 81.68% and 79.91%, respectively. In conclusion, the developed assessment demonstrated acceptable preliminary validity and reliability, suggesting that it is a credible tool for assessing working memory in breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. However, further studies with larger sample sizes are recommended to more comprehensively confirm its psychometric properties.
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