Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Multicenter Study
. 2024 Dec 23;23(1):298.
doi: 10.1186/s12904-024-01630-0.

Validity and reliability of the integrated palliative care outcome scale (IPOS) in Korea: a multicenter study of terminally ill cancer patients

So-Jung Park #  1 , Yujin Park #  2 , Mira Han  3 , Sun-Hyun Kim  4 , In Cheol Hwang  5 , Go-Un Woo  6 , Yoo Jeong Lee  7 , Young Sung Kim  8 , Hyun Jung Jho  1 , Yoon Jung Chang  9
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Validity and reliability of the integrated palliative care outcome scale (IPOS) in Korea: a multicenter study of terminally ill cancer patients

So-Jung Park et al. BMC Palliat Care. .

Abstract

Background: The Integrated Palliative care Outcome Scale (IPOS) is a key tool for assessing the quality of palliative care using patient-reported outcomes. This study aimed to culturally adapt and translate the IPOS to Korean and verify its psychometric properties for use in palliative care settings.

Methods: The IPOS was translated and culturally adapted, followed by validation in 119 terminally ill cancer patients and 28 healthcare providers across six Hospice and Palliative Care Units from September 2023 to January 2024. Reliability was assessed using internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and inter-rater reliability. Concurrent validity was assessed using Spearman's correlation coefficients between the IPOS items and the corresponding EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL and the corresponding FACIT-Sp-12.

Results: The Korean IPOS demonstrated good internal consistency, with Cronbach's alphas of 0.74 for patients and 0.81 for staff. The test-retest reliability showed moderate-to-good stability, with an intra-class correlation coefficient of 0.722 for the IPOS total score. Concurrent validity was supported by moderate correlations with the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 15 Palliative Care (EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL) and Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual Well-being Scale (FACIT-Sp-12). Known-group validity was demonstrated by significant differences in the IPOS scores across Phase of Illness.

Conclusion: The Korean IPOS is reliable and valid for assessing palliative care outcomes. This validation supports its use in clinical practice and research and provides a robust framework for evaluating and improving palliative care delivery in Korea.

Keywords: Integrated Palliative care Outcome Scale; Palliative care; Patient-reported outcome measures; Psychometrics; Reliability; Validity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: All participants signed an informed consent form, and the study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board of National Cancer Center (NCC2023-0269); Catholic Kwandong University International St. Mary’s Hospital (IS23QIMI0050); Gachon University Gil Medical Center (GBIRB2023-304); Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital (2023-11-001); Korea University Guro Hospital (2023GR0394); and National Health Insurance Service Ilsan hospital (2023-08-004-001). Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Known-Group Comparisons: Patient-Reported Total and Subscale IPOS Mean Scores by Staff-Rated Phase of Illness. Note: Mean with 95% Confidence Intervals (CIs)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Sepulveda C, Marlin A, Yoshida T, Ullrich A. Palliative Care: the World Health Organization’s global perspective. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2002;24(2):91–6. - PubMed
    1. Connor SR, Sepulveda Bermedo MC. Worldwide Palliative Care Alliance & World Health Organization. Global atlas of palliative care at the end of life. London: Worldwide Palliative Care Alliance London; 2014.
    1. Morin L, Aubry R, Frova L, MacLeod R, Wilson DM, Loucka M, Csikos A, Ruiz-Ramos M, Cardenas-Turanzas M, Rhee Y, et al. Estimating the need for palliative care at the population level: a cross-national study in 12 countries. Palliat Med. 2017;31(6):526–36. - PubMed
    1. Murtagh FEM, Bausewein C, Verne J, Groeneveld EI, Kaloki YE, Higginson IJ. How many people need palliative care? A study developing and comparing methods for population-based estimates. Palliat Med. 2014;28(1):49–58. - PubMed
    1. National Hospice Center & Ministry of Health and Welfare. Annual Report on National Hospice & palliative care in Korea: facts & Fig. 2023. Report No., 11-1352000-002700-10. In.; Sejong, 2023.

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources