A new Italian questionnaire to assess caregivers of cancer patients' satisfaction with palliative care: multicenter validation of the post mortem questionnaire-short form

Abstract

Context: Caregiver satisfaction with palliative care is a crucial indicator of its effectiveness. In light of the lack of validated or reliable Italian instruments, the Post Mortem Questionnaire-Short Form (QPM-SF), a self-report questionnaire, has been developed to assess home and inpatient hospice care.

Objectives: The present study was designed to evaluate the psychometric properties of QPM-SF and assess for differences in quality of palliative care between hospice and home care settings.

Methods: A total of 584 caregivers of terminal cancer patients completed QPM-SF one month after the death of the care recipient. To assess test-retest reliability, a subgroup of 50 caregivers completed the questionnaire a second time, one month later.

Results: QPM-SF showed good internal consistency and temporal stability and a four-factor structure: "Integrated home care," "Hospice," "Physical care-Information-Global evaluation," and "Needs."

Conclusion: QPM-SF may be considered a valid, reliable, and well-accepted self-report instrument for examining and implementing palliative care interventions.

Keywords: Palliative care; cancer; end-of-life care; satisfaction; terminal phase.