Palliative medicine
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Palliative medicine · Jul 1999
The applicability of quality-of-life assessment in palliative care: comparing two quality-of-life measures.
Two self-administered quality-of-life measures, the McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire (MQOL) and the Patient Evaluated Problem Scores (PEPS) were compared in patients receiving palliative care. The MQOL is a multidimensional questionnaire consisting of 16 items in five quality-of-life (QOL) domains: physical symptoms, physical well-being, psychological, existential and support domains. The PEPS is an individualized questionnaire asking patients to identify and rate major problems affecting their QOL. ⋯ The findings support the importance of an existential domain in assessing the QOL of this population. Both MQOL and PEPS were found to be relevant and acceptable in advanced cancer patients receiving palliative care. However, with its favourable psychometric properties MQOL may be more suitable for QOL assessment in this population.
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Palliative medicine · Jul 1999
A comparison of patient and proxy symptom assessments in advanced cancer patients.
The purpose of this study was to compare patient and proxy (physician and nurse) assessments of symptoms in advanced cancer patients. The sample consisted of 49 patients with advanced cancer admitted to an acute palliative care unit. Three independent assessments were completed for each patient on two occasions within 11 days of admission. ⋯ The accuracy of assessments amongst those rating the symptoms did not improve over time. Proxy assessments of symptom intensity, particularly by physicians, were significantly lower than patient assessments for three of the nine symptoms. Further research regarding the reliability of patient and proxy assessments is needed to assess and manage symptoms in advanced cancer effectively.
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Palliative medicine · Jul 1999
Feasibility of using postal questionnaires to examine carer satisfaction with palliative care: a methodological assessment. South Tyneside MAAG Palliative Care Study Group.
This paper reports on the methodological findings from a project which examined the feasibility of using a postal questionnaire to assess lay carer satisfaction with palliative care. The focus of this paper is the process of questionnaire development and its psychometric evaluation. The questionnaire was derived from an interview schedule used in previous national surveys of care for the dying, and was refined through qualitative work with recently bereaved lay carers. ⋯ The analysis indicated that in the majority of cases the person targeted to receive the questionnaire was the most appropriate informant. Psychometric evaluation of the questionnaire against five criteria was encouraging, with low item nonresponse and ineligible response, and some evidence of discriminatory power, reliability, and face and content validity. Postal approaches appear to represent an acceptable means of assessing user satisfaction with palliative care, compared with more resource-intensive methods.
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Palliative medicine · Jul 1999
Prospective study of symptom control in 133 cases of palliative care inpatients in Shatin Hospital.
We report a prospective study assessing the prevalence and severity of physical and nonphysical symptoms, and the benefits from treatment and intervention, in advanced cancer patients presenting to a local palliative care unit in Hong Kong. Patients were assessed by a modified version of the support team assessment schedule (STAS). ⋯ In general, the STAS was found to be practicable and acceptable by our patients and staff. The most important benefit gained from the study was the successful dissemination of the concept of audit and quality assurance throughout the unit, which is essential for continuous improvement in the future.