The Palliative Care Outcome Scale: Turkish Validity and Reliability Study.

Area of Science:

• Palliative Care Research
• Health Outcomes Measurement
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Palliative care (PC) requires effective tools to assess patient needs.
• The Palliative Care Outcome Scale (POS) is a widely used instrument for this purpose.
• Validation of the Turkish version of the POS is essential for its clinical application in Turkey.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the validity and reliability of the Turkish translation of the Palliative Care Outcome Scale (POS).
• To confirm the scale's suitability for assessing PC patients' needs from multiple perspectives.

Main Methods:

• A methodological study involving 69 patients, 69 carers, and 28 PC staff members.
• Data collected using the Personal Diagnosis Form and the POS.
• Evaluated scope, structure, and criterion validity, along with internal consistency reliability.

Main Results:

• Content validity ratios exceeded 0.80 for all participant groups (patients, carers, staff).
• Item-total score correlations ranged from 0.27 to 0.72.
• Cronbach's alpha coefficients indicated acceptable reliability (0.64 for patients, 0.73 for carers, 0.68 for staff).

Conclusions:

• The Turkish POS is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing PC patient needs.
• Findings support its use across patient, carer, and staff perspectives in Turkish healthcare settings.
• The scale effectively measures PC patient needs in three key dimensions.