Assessing agreement between salivary alpha amylase levels collected by passive drool and eluted filter paper in adolescents with cancer.

Abstract

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES:

To assess the validity of filter paper (FP) against the gold standard of passive drool (PD) for collecting salivary alpha amylase as a surrogate biomarker of psychological stress in adolescents with cancer.

DESIGN:

Part of a longitudinal, descriptive study of symptoms in adolescents with cancer during chemotherapy.

SETTING:

A pediatric hematology/oncology treatment center.

SAMPLE:

33 saliva sample pairs from nine adolescents with cancer, aged 13-18 years.

METHODS:

Salivary alpha amylase was collected by PD and FP at four time points during a cycle of chemotherapy: days 1 (time 1) and 2 (time 2) of chemotherapy, day 7-10 (time 3), and day 1 of the next cycle (time 4). A random effects regression was used to assess the correlation between PD and FP values, and a Bland Altman analysis was conducted to assess agreement between the values.

MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES:

Salivary alpha amylase.

FINDINGS:

The estimated correlation between PD and FP values was r = 0.91, p < 0.001. Regression results were also used to rescale FP values to the levels of the PD values because the FP values were on a different scale than the PD values. The Bland Altman analysis revealed that the agreement between the rescaled FP values and PD values was not satisfactory.

CONCLUSIONS:

Eluted FP may not be a valid method for collecting salivary alpha amylase in adolescents with cancer.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING:

Psychological stress in adolescents with cancer may be linked to negative outcomes, such as greater symptom severity and post-traumatic stress disorder. Nurses need valid, efficient, biobehavioral measures to assess psychological stress in the clinical setting.

• Authors: Suzanne Ameringer, Cindy Munro, R K Elswick Jr
• Journal: Oncology nursing forum (Oncol Nurs Forum) Vol. 39 Issue 4 Pg. E317-23 (Jul 2012) ISSN: 1538-0688 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 22750901 (Publication Type: Clinical Trial, Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural, Validation Study)

Chemical References

• Antineoplastic Agents
• Biomarkers
• Salivary alpha-Amylases

Topics

• Adolescent
• Antineoplastic Agents (therapeutic use)
• Biomarkers (metabolism)
• Female
• Humans
• Longitudinal Studies
• Male
• Neoplasms (drug therapy, metabolism, psychology)
• Oncology Nursing (methods)
• Paper
• Reference Standards
• Reproducibility of Results
• Saliva (enzymology)
• Salivary alpha-Amylases (isolation & purification, metabolism)
• Sialorrhea (metabolism)
• Specimen Handling (instrumentation, methods, standards)
• Stress, Psychological (diagnosis, metabolism, nursing)