The experience of hopelessness in a population of Greek cancer patients receiving palliative care.
BACKGROUND
Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) has been translated and validated in many languages.


OBJECTIVE
The validation of the English version of BHS in advanced cancer patients receiving palliative treatment in Greece.


METHODS
The final sample was 112 advanced cancer patients. Internal consistency, item-total correlations, and test-retest using four different approaches were calculated for the assessment of the reliability. Construct validity was used by examining correlations between BHS, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD-Depression) and the Schedule of Attitudes toward Hastened Death (SAHD). Known-groups validity was also assessed by detecting group differences according to disease severity as measured by the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status. Univariate and multivariate analyses were constructed to explore the relationship between hopelessness, depression, hastened death and the patients' demographic and clinical characteristics.


RESULTS
One factor solution was yielded accounted for 46.64% of the variance. The test-retest reliability was satisfactory (p < 0.0005). Validity as performed using known-group analysis showed good results. Most significant correlations were found between BHS, ECOG (p = 0.018) and gender (p = 0.08). The strongest predictors were gender (p = 0.050) and ECOG (p = 0.045).


CONCLUSIONS
BHS seemed to be a useful instrument to assess pessimistic attitude and hopelessness in a Greek cancer population, with valid psychometric properties.
Department of Radiology, Areteion Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Athens. mistakidou@yahoo.com
Kyriaki
K
Mystakidou
Efi
E
Parpa
Eleni
E
Tsilika
Maria
M
Pathiaki
Ioanna
I
Hatzipli
Antonis
A
Galanos
Lambros
L
Vlahos
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D010166:Palliative Care