title: A new Italian questionnaire to assess caregivers of cancer patients' satisfaction with palliative care: multicenter validation of the post mortem questionnaire-short form.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Caregiver satisfaction with palliative care is a crucial indicator of its effectiveness. In light of the lack of validated or reliable Italian instruments, the Post Mortem Questionnaire-Short Form (QPM-SF), a self-report questionnaire, has been developed to assess home and inpatient hospice care.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The present study was designed to evaluate the psychometric properties of QPM-SF and assess for differences in quality of palliative care between hospice and home care settings.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 584 caregivers of terminal cancer patients completed QPM-SF one month after the death of the care recipient. To assess test-retest reliability, a subgroup of 50 caregivers completed the questionnaire a second time, one month later.
  
  
  RESULTS
  QPM-SF showed good internal consistency and temporal stability and a four-factor structure: "Integrated home care," "Hospice," "Physical care-Information-Global evaluation," and "Needs."
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  QPM-SF may be considered a valid, reliable, and well-accepted self-report instrument for examining and implementing palliative care interventions.
authors.affiliation: Psychology Unit, San Bortolo Hospital, Vicenza, Italy. Electronic address: psic.terapiadolore@ulssvicenza.it.
authors.forename: Manuela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Partinico
authors.affiliation: Psychology Unit, San Bortolo Hospital, Vicenza, Italy.
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Corà
authors.affiliation: Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ghisi
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Allison J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Ouimet
authors.affiliation: Pain Therapy and Palliative Care Unit, San Bortolo Hospital, Vicenza, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Visentin
mesh_terms: D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006699:Home Care Services; D017051:Hospice Care; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000523:psychology*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D057566:Self Report; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000523:psychology; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Palliative care; cancer; end-of-life care; satisfaction; terminal phase