Development and validation of a measurement tool to assess perceptions of palliative care

摘要: Objectives Understanding patient's perceptions about palliative care is necessary to make an effective referral. The aim was develop and validate a measure of patient perceptions. Methods Items were generated through patient, family caregiver health professional interviews. Perceptions Palliative Care Instrument (PPCI) administered 85 patients with advanced cancer (AC). A subset (n = 39) completed it 7 days later. Participants also the Outcome Scale (POS), Edmonton Symptom Assessment (ESAS) Distress Thermometer (DT) for validation purposes. Results Factor analysis revealed four domains (positive negative emotional cognitive reactions care, practical needs health) eight subscales factor loadings all items above 0.51, explaining 61–81% total variance. Reliability analyses high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha coefficients >0.76). Intraclass correlation showed moderate strong correlations between time points indicating stability over time. All POS correlated two or more dimensions PPCI (all r > 0.30); ESAS distress positively domain DT perceived burden r > 0.30). Conclusions The four-factor, 37-item that assesses held by AC. has good consistency, test–retest reliability convergent validity. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.