Validity and reliability of the palliative care needs assessment tool in Japanese patients with heart failure

Although patients with heart failure (HF) frequently experience considerable symptom burden and require significant care, most HF patients do not receive timely intervention due to the absence of a standardized method for identifying those in need of palliative care. The Needs Assessment Tool: Progressive Disease-Heart Failure (NAT: PD-HF) assesses the palliative care needs of patients with HF. However, its validity and reliability have yet to be fully examined. We aimed to assess the validity and reliability of the NAT: PD-HF in Japanese patients with HF.

We prospectively enrolled 106 consecutive patients with chronic HF admitted to our university hospital between February 2023 and July 2023. Their caregivers (n = 95) and healthcare providers (n = 17) were also included. The NAT: PD-HF was translated from English to Japanese using a forward-backward translation procedure and adapted based on Japanese cultural and medical backgrounds by our professional multidisciplinary team. We assessed the internal consistency of the Japanese NAT: PD-HF version with Cronbach's alpha coefficient and the inter-rater and test-retest reliabilities with Cohen's kappa coefficient. After using the tool, all participants were asked to complete a questionnaire about the tool to determine its validity.

The proportion of female patients in this study was 47 (44%). The median age was 72 years [interquartile range (IQR) 59-81]. The median time spent assessing the patients' and their caregivers' needs using the Japanese NAT: PD-HF was 14 min (IQR 12-17). The Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.82, and the minimum kappa coefficient was 0.77 for inter-rater reliability and 0.88 for test-retest reliability. In total, 103 patients (97%) and all caregivers responded that the tool was easy to understand. One hundred (94%) patients and 89 (94%) caregivers felt that the tool would improve the quality of care, and 102 (96%) patients and 91 (96%) caregivers indicated that the discussions using this tool allowed them to confide in all their burdens and care needs. All healthcare providers expressed that this tool is helpful in understanding the burden and care needs of both patients and caregivers comprehensively.

The NAT: PD-HF is a reliable and valid tool for Japanese patients with HF and their caregivers. This tool was very well accepted by patients, caregivers and healthcare providers to identify burdens and care needs.