title: Measurement of Quality of Life in Palliative Care: Evidence for Criterion-Oriented Validity of a Single-Item Approach.
abstract: Assessment of quality of life is of central importance in palliative care to understand patients' needs and improve their treatment. However, due to the severely compromised state of health of the severely ill or dying patients, the possibility of an adequate assessment with longer questionnaires is limited.
  
  
  
  Investigation of the criterion-oriented validity of a single item to measure quality of life in palliative care patients.
  
  
  
  In a cross-sectional study, correlations of the single item with established questionnaires were analyzed.
  
  
  
  At Malteser Hospital Bonn and Bonn University Hospital, 72 palliative patients, mainly suffering from cancer, were investigated.
  
  
  
  Clinical symptoms were measured by the Minimal Documentation System (MIDOS) and quality of life was assessed by the single item "How satisfied are you currently with your physical and emotional well-being?" on a 7-point scale as well as by the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G) and the Palliative Outcome Scale (POS).
  
  
  
  Seventy-one of 72 patients filled in the single item and the POS, 64 patients the FACT-G. There was a high correlation between the assessment of quality of life by the single item and the FACT-G (r = 0.695, p < 0.01) as well as the POS (r = -0.630, p < 0.01).
  
  
  
  The study confirms the criterion-oriented validity of the single item to measure quality of life in palliative care patients. This can be seen as a first step to validate this economic instrument. Future studies should focus on the analysis of further psychometric aspects (e.g., reliability, sensitivity to change) of the single item.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Bonn , Bonn, Germany .
authors.forename: Rupert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Conrad
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Palliative Medicine, University Hospital of Bonn , Bonn, Germany .|3 Center for Rare Diseases Bonn (ZSEB), University Hospital of Bonn , Bonn, Germany .|4 Department of General Practice and Family Medicine, University Hospital of Bonn , Bonn, Germany .
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mücke
authors.affiliation: 5 Department of Radiology, University Hospital of Bonn , Bonn, Germany .
authors.forename: Milka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marinova
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Palliative Medicine, University Hospital of Bonn , Bonn, Germany .
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Burghardt
authors.affiliation: 3 Center for Rare Diseases Bonn (ZSEB), University Hospital of Bonn , Bonn, Germany .
authors.forename: Christiane
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stieber
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Palliative Medicine, University Hospital of Bonn , Bonn, Germany .
authors.forename: Henning
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cuhls
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Palliative Medicine, University Hospital of Bonn , Bonn, Germany .|6 Centre for Palliative Care, Malteser Hospital Bonn/Rhein-Sieg , Bonn, Germany .
authors.forename: Lukas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Radbruch
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000592:standards*; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*
keywords: palliative medicine; quality of life; single item