J Palliat Care
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J Palliat Care
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To ensure quality of care, palliative care programs need to document the effectiveness of their relief of physical and psychological distress. The Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS) is a validated, reliable instrument developed to measure 9 different symptoms in palliative care patients. ⋯ Our study showed that the ESAS is a useful audit tool for assessing patterns of palliative symptom control that allows for institutional comparisons. Procedures that ensure completeness of data collection remain to be developed.