Examining the Development of Information Needs Assessment Questionnaires in Oncology: Protocol for a Scoping Review

BACKGROUND: Information needs are one of the most prevalent unmet supportive care needs of those living with cancer, including patients and their informal caregivers. Understanding how existing questionnaires for evaluating information needs have been developed is important for guiding appropriate use and informing future research. A literature review examining how information needs assessment questionnaires for use in the cancer context have been developed, with a specific focus on how questionnaire items have been identified, does not exist. OBJECTIVE: This scoping review will examine how questionnaires for assessing the information needs of those living with cancer have been developed with special focus on how patients, informal caregivers, and health care professionals have been involved in the selection and identification of questionnaire items. METHODS: This review will include published studies describing the development and validation of information needs assessment questionnaires for use in the oncology context. MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and PsycInfo will be searched. Articles published at any point up to the date of the search will be eligible for inclusion. One person will screen titles and abstracts, and 2 people will screen and extract data from full-text articles. RESULTS: Results are expected to be available in early 2023. Summary tables and a narrative summary will be used to describe results. CONCLUSIONS: This scoping review will assist in identifying appropriate information needs assessment tools to incorporate into clinical and research contexts in oncology. It will also identify if additional information needs assessment tools are needed. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): PRR1-10.2196/35639