The MD Anderson Symptom Inventory

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. Assessing symptom distress in cancer: The M. D. Anderson Symptom Inventory. Cancer 89:1634-1646, 2000.

Li J, Chen T, Gao J, et al. Developing and validating utility parameters to establish patient-reported outcome-based perioperative symptom management in patients undergoing prostatectomy: a multicentre, prospective, observational cohort study protocol. BMJ Open 13(8):e074763, 2023.

Guirimand F, Buyck JF, Lauwers-Allot E, et al. Cancer-related symptom assessment in France: validation of the French M. D. Anderson Symptom Inventory. J Pain Symptom Manage 39(4): 721-733, 2010.

Nejmi M, Wang XS, Mendoza TR, Gning I, Cleeland CS. Validation and application of the Arabic version of the M. D. Anderson Symptom Inventory in Moroccan patients with cancer. J Pain Symptom Manage 40(1): 75-86, 2010.

Lin CC, Chang AP, Cleeland CS, Mendoza TR, Wang XS. Taiwanese version of the M. D. Anderson Symptom Inventory: symptom assessment in cancer patients. J Pain Symptom Manage 33(2): 180-188, 2007.

Wang XS, Laudico AV, Guo H, et al. Filipino version of the M. D. Anderson Symptom Inventory (MDASI-F): Validation and multisymptom measurement in cancer patients. J Pain Symptom Manage 31(6): 542-552, 2006.

Yun YH, Mendoza TR, Kang IO, et al. Validation study of the Korean version of the M. D. Anderson Symptom Inventory. J Pain Symptom Manage 31(4): 345-352, 2006.

Ivanova MO, Ionova TI, Kalyadina SA, et al. Cancer-related symptom assessment in Russia: Validation and utility of the Russian M. D. Anderson Symptom Inventory. J Pain Symptom Manage 30(5): 443-453, 2005.

Mystakidou K, Cleeland C, Tsilika E, et al. Greek M. D. Anderson Symptom Inventory: validation and utility in a cancer patient population. Oncology 67: 203-210, 2004.

Wang XS, Wang Y, Guo H, Mendoza TR, Hao XS, Cleeland CS. Chinese version of the M. D. Anderson Symptom Inventory (MDASI-C): Validation and application of symptom measurement in cancer patients. Cancer 101(8):1890-1901, 2004.

Okuyama T, Wang XS, Akechi T, et al. Japanese version of the M. D. Anderson Symptom Inventory: a validation study.J Pain Symptom Manage 26(6): 1093-1104, 2003.

Clinical Application

Kuang Y, Jing F, Sun Y, et al. Symptom networks in older adults with cancer: a network analysis. J Geriatr Oncol 15(3):101718, 2024.

Kirkova J, Davis MP, Walsh D, et al. Cancer symptom assessment instruments: a systematic review. J Clin Oncol 24(9):1459-1473, 2006. 

Zhang X, Zhang H, Zhang Z, et al. The mediating effect of resilience on the relationship between symptom burden and anxiety/depression among Chinese patients with primary liver cancer after liver resection. Patient Prefer Adherence 17:3033-3043, 2023. 

Coombs LA, Neller S, Wilson C, et al. Treatment decision conversations, symptoms, and functional status in older adults with advanced cancer: An exploratory study utilizing mixed methods. J Geriatr Oncol 14(2):101414, 2023.

Ekhator C, Rak R, Tadipatri R, et al. A single-center experience of dopamine antagonist ONC201 for recurrent histone H3 lysine 27-to-methionine (H3K27M)-mutant glioblastoma in adults. Cureus 14(8):e28175, 2022. 

Castro-Figueroa EM, Torres-Blasco N, Rosal MC, et al. Brief report: Hispanic patients' trajectory of cancer symptom burden, depression, anxiety, and quality of life. Nurs Rep 11(2):475-483, 2021.

Ambai VT, Singh V, Boorman DW, Neufeld NJ. Celiac plexus neurolysis for abdominal cancers: going beyond pancreatic cancer pain. Pain Rep 6(1):e930, 2021.

Wyatt G, Lehto R, Guha-Niyogi P, et al. Reflexology and meditative practices for symptom management among people with cancer: results from a sequential multiple assignment randomized trial. Res Nurs Health 44(5):796-810, 2021.

Wang XS, Cleeland CS, Mendoza TR, et al. Impact of cultural and linguistic factors on symptom reporting by patients with cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst 102(10):732-738, 2010.

Shi Q, Trask PC, Wang XS, et al. Does recall period have an effect on cancer patients' ratings of the severity of multiple symptoms? J Pain Symptom Manage 40(2):191-199, 2010.