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Observational Study
. 2022 Oct 14;19(20):13258.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph192013258.

Feasibility of Patient Reported Outcome Measures in Psychosocial Palliative Care: Observational Cohort Study of Hospice Day Care and Social Support Groups

Natasha Bradley  1 , Christopher Dowrick  2 , Mari Lloyd-Williams  2
Affiliations
Observational Study

Feasibility of Patient Reported Outcome Measures in Psychosocial Palliative Care: Observational Cohort Study of Hospice Day Care and Social Support Groups

Natasha Bradley et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Palliative care patients can be at risk of social isolation or loneliness. Interventions that can provide effective social support, and particularly emotional support, could facilitate healthy coping that bolsters quality of life and reduces depression in palliative care patients. This is an observational cohort study which recruited thirty patients (n = 30) from the day services of four independent hospices in England. Participants completed patient reported outcome measures in perceived social support, loneliness, and depression, at up to three time points. Age range was 56-91 years, males and females were equally represented, and the sample was 93% white British. In participants that provided two or more timepoints, perceived social support increased, and loneliness and depression decreased. Largest changes with the least variation between participants was in emotional support (p = 0.165) and loneliness (p = 0.104). These results suggest that the psychosocial patient reported outcome measures used (MOS-SS, UCLA, BEDS) could be sensitive to change aligned with the goals of this intervention in palliative care. Participants in this study were observed to derive psychosocial benefit from attending the hospice day service.

Keywords: hospice day care; palliative care; patient reported outcome measures; social support.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data or in the writing of the manuscript.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Psychosocial measures at baseline by reason for attrition: (a) Perceived social support; (b) Depression; (c) Loneliness. *: In a box plot, the interquartile range is shown as a box, and the median shown as a line. Asterisks are data points >1.5 times the median value.
Figure 1
Figure 1
Psychosocial measures at baseline by reason for attrition: (a) Perceived social support; (b) Depression; (c) Loneliness. *: In a box plot, the interquartile range is shown as a box, and the median shown as a line. Asterisks are data points >1.5 times the median value.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Change over time between T1 and T2 (n = 19): (a) Perceived social support; (b) Emotional support subscale.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Change over time between T1 and T2 (n = 19) in loneliness.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Change over time between T1 and T2 (n = 19) in depression.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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