Adaptation and Validation of the Supportive and Palliative Care Indicators Tool (SPICT): A Quantitative...

Area of Science:

• Palliative Care
• Oncology
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Identifying patients needing palliative care is crucial for improving quality of life.
• The Supportive and Palliative Care Indicators Tool (SPICT) is a valuable assessment instrument.
• A validated Chinese version of SPICT is needed for the Chinese population.

Purpose of the Study:

• To translate the SPICT into Chinese and evaluate its performance in hospitalized cancer patients.
• To assess the validity and reliability of the Chinese SPICT version.
• To determine the screening accuracy of the Chinese SPICT for palliative care needs.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional validation study involving 388 hospitalized cancer patients.
• Forward-backward translation using the Brislin model, cultural adaptation, and expert review.
• Evaluation of content validity, internal consistency (KR-20), test-retest reliability (kappa), and screening performance (sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV).

Main Results:

• The Chinese SPICT demonstrated good content validity, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability.
• Screening performance metrics were favorable: accuracy (0.905), sensitivity (0.806), specificity (0.943), PPV (0.845), and NPV (0.926).
• Approximately one-quarter of the included patients showed potential palliative care needs.

Conclusions:

• The Chinese version of SPICT is a valid and reliable tool for screening palliative care needs in hospitalized cancer patients in China.
• This validated tool can assist clinicians in identifying patients for palliative care consultation, goal discussions, and referrals.
• The Chinese SPICT facilitates the integration of palliative care assessment into routine oncology care, potentially improving patient outcomes and quality of life.