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Individual and sets of symptom items from the MDASI Symptom Library may be added to the core MDASI or a MDASI module (sidebar, right) to create an experimental MDASI that is tailored to your clinical research or practice. Items are added to the end of the original questionnaire to maintain the integrity of its psychometric validity.

All symptom items are available in English, as well as in other languages.

Contact us to obtain permission to use any of the MDASI Symptom Library items to create a tailored questionnaire (REQUIRED). Our expert faculty can assist you with: 

• Design of a customized MDASI that meets the needs of your study or practice;
• Available linguistically and psychometrically validated language translations of your selected items;
• Information about the sensitivity of particular items in specific populations.

Charges will apply for consultation services. Charge will depend on the scope of the request.

ITEMS MAY NOT BE USED WITHOUT CONSULTATION.

• Purpose: To assess the severity of multiple cancer-related symptoms and the impact of these symptoms on daily functioning
• Population: Patients with symptoms caused by cancer and cancer treatment
• Assessment areas: Severity of multiple symptoms and the impact of symptoms on daily functioning during the last 24 hours
• Method: Self-report or interview with research staff; paper-and-pencil or electronic data entry*
• Time required: Five minutes or less 
• Scoring: Please see the MDASI User Guide
• Reliability: Cronbach alpha reliability ranges from 0.82 to 0.94

*Electronic data capture offers several benefits:

• Allows symptom monitoring when the patient is away from the hospital
• Is convenient for patients, who can choose web access, personalized patient portals, or smartphones to access questionnaires
• Minimizes missing data, especially in longitudinal studies
• Provides accurate, real-time symptom data at expected time points
• Generates immediate feedback, potentially allowing caregivers to address severe symptoms more effectively

Click on a linked language to view a sample in PDF format. 

Don't see a language you need? Contact us at symptomresearch@mdanderson.org.

In response to the US Food and Drug Administration's 2009 guidance for the pharmaceutical industry on the use of patient-reported outcomes measures in medical product development to support labeling claims, we have prepared a MDASI User Guide to document the development and psychometric properties of the MDASI and its modules. The User Guide addresses the recommendations in the FDA guidance and establishes the MDASI's adequacy as a measure to support medical product claims.

Validation

Cleeland CS, Mendoza TR, Wang XS, et al.  Cancer 89:1634-1646, 2000.

Li J, Chen T, Gao J, et al.  BMJ Open 13(8):e074763, 2023.

Guirimand F, Buyck JF, Lauwers-Allot E, et al.  J Pain Symptom Manage 39(4): 721-733, 2010.

Nejmi M, Wang XS, Mendoza TR, Gning I, Cleeland CS.  J Pain Symptom Manage 40(1): 75-86, 2010.

Lin CC, Chang AP, Cleeland CS, Mendoza TR, Wang XS.  J Pain Symptom Manage 33(2): 180-188, 2007.

Wang XS, Laudico AV, Guo H, et al.  J Pain Symptom Manage 31(6): 542-552, 2006.

Yun YH, Mendoza TR, Kang IO, et al.  J Pain Symptom Manage 31(4): 345-352, 2006.

Ivanova MO, Ionova TI, Kalyadina SA, et al.  J Pain Symptom Manage 30(5): 443-453, 2005.

Mystakidou K, Cleeland C, Tsilika E, et al.  Oncology 67: 203-210, 2004.

Wang XS, Wang Y, Guo H, Mendoza TR, Hao XS, Cleeland CS.  Cancer 101(8):1890-1901, 2004.

Okuyama T, Wang XS, Akechi T, et al. J Pain Symptom Manage 26(6): 1093-1104, 2003.

Clinical Application

Kuang Y, Jing F, Sun Y, et al.  J Geriatr Oncol 15(3):101718, 2024.

Kirkova J, Davis MP, Walsh D, et al.  J Clin Oncol 24(9):1459-1473, 2006. 

Zhang X, Zhang H, Zhang Z, et al.  Patient Prefer Adherence 17:3033-3043, 2023. 

Coombs LA, Neller S, Wilson C, et al.  J Geriatr Oncol 14(2):101414, 2023.

Ekhator C, Rak R, Tadipatri R, et al.  Cureus 14(8):e28175, 2022. 

Castro-Figueroa EM, Torres-Blasco N, Rosal MC, et al.  Nurs Rep 11(2):475-483, 2021.

Ambai VT, Singh V, Boorman DW, Neufeld NJ.  Pain Rep 6(1):e930, 2021.

Wyatt G, Lehto R, Guha-Niyogi P, et al.  Res Nurs Health 44(5):796-810, 2021.

Wang XS, Cleeland CS, Mendoza TR, et al.  J Natl Cancer Inst 102(10):732-738, 2010.

Shi Q, Trask PC, Wang XS, et al.  J Pain Symptom Manage 40(2):191-199, 2010.