Patient-Reported Palliative Care Outcomes in Kazakhstan: A Cross-Regional Study Using the POS Questionnaire

Background: Patient-reported outcome measures are increasingly used to evaluate the quality of palliative care. However, evidence from Kazakhstan remains limited. This study aimed to assess palliative care outcomes among adult patients in Kazakhstan using the Palliative Outcome Scale (POS). Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 134 adult patients receiving palliative care in East Kazakhstan. Data were collected using a socio-demographic and clinical questionnaire and the 10-item POS. Descriptive statistics, Cronbach's alpha, Spearman correlation, nonparametric tests, and multiple linear regression were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 26.0. Results: The mean total POS score was 10.13 ± 5.05, indicating a moderate burden of palliative care-related problems. The highest mean scores were observed for self-worth, meaning in life, anxiety, and pain. The POS demonstrated moderate internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.641). Significant differences in total POS scores were found across disease profiles (p < 0.001), whereas no significant differences were observed by gender or age. In multiple linear regression, disease profile was the only variable significantly associated with the total POS score (B = 0.688, β = 0.292, p = 0.001). Conclusions: Patients receiving palliative care in Kazakhstan experience a moderate burden of physical, emotional, and existential concerns. Disease profile was significantly associated with patient-reported outcomes and may represent one of several factors influencing palliative care needs. The POS may be a useful tool for assessing patient-reported palliative care outcomes in Kazakhstan; however, further formal psychometric validation in the local population is required before routine implementation.