Social science & medicine
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Social science & medicine · Mar 1993
Comparative StudyComparing nurses' and patients' pain evaluations: a study of hospitalized patients in Kuwait.
All eligible patients hospitalized on the general medical, surgical and pediatric wards of a district hospital in Kuwait during the first 2 weeks of April 1990 (N = 199) were interviewed about their pain and the medical care provided. Patients rated their current pain using a 0-10 visual analogue scale (VAS) on which 0 was labelled 'no pain' and 10 'unbearable pain', and also the least and worst levels of pain which they had experienced during the previous 24 hr. Pediatric patients rated their mood at these times using a cartoon faces scale ([1]: McGrath P. ⋯ Also, when specifically questioned, a substantial proportion of patients stated that pain had had a negative impact on their mood and activity. Various explanations for these findings are discussed, and their implications for effective pain management. Some of the special problems facing nurses in Kuwait are considered.
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Social science & medicine · Mar 1993
ReviewValidity and reliability testing of the FAMCARE Scale: measuring family satisfaction with advanced cancer care.
The purpose of the study was to test the validity and reliability of the FAMCARE Scale which was developed to measure family satisfaction with advanced cancer care. The FAMCARE Scale was developed based upon earlier qualitative research which identified indicators of family care satisfaction and a subsequent Q-sort study that reduced those items to the most salient indicators of satisfaction according to a larger, representative sample (N = 210). ⋯ Cluster analysis of the scale suggested 4 subdimensions. Although the scale requires further testing to establish its reliability and validity, these preliminary results indicate that the scale may be a psychometrically sound instrument useful for measurement of family satisfaction with advanced cancer care.