Content Validation of Primary Care Network Assessment Scale for Palliative Care Patients (ARCP) and Clinical Utility...

To validate the content of Primary Care Network Assessment Scale for Palliative Care Patients (ARCP) and to assess its clinical utility in patients with advanced cancer.

This methodological study was conducted in two phases. Phase 1 involved content validation by ten social work experts using the Content Validity Index (CVI). Phase 2 evaluated clinical utility in a cross-sectional study of 148 patients with advanced cancer receiving palliative care. Data included sociodemographic and clinical variables, global quality of life (EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL) and perceived social support (SSQ6). Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed.

The ARCP showed high content validity, with CVI values above 0.80 for relevance, clarity and vocabulary across all items. Clinically, 80% of patients were classified as having fully participatory caregiving networks; however, 42% relied on a single caregiver, indicating structural vulnerability despite high perceived support. Male sex (OR = 2.53; 95% CI: 1.02-4.34), being married (OR = 2.78; 95% CI: 1.06-7.29), better global quality of life (OR = 2.33; 95% CI: 1.08-2.57) and greater satisfaction with social support (OR = 5.41; 95% CI: 1.35-15.05) were independently associated with a fully participatory network.

The ARCP demonstrated evidence of content validity and clinical utility for assessing caregiving network structure in palliative care.