Measuring relatives’ perceptions of end-of-life communication with physicians in five countries: a psychometric analysis

Maciej Koniewski, Ilona Barańska, Violetta Kijowska, Jenny T. Steen, Anne B. Wichmann, Sheila Payne, Giovanni Gambassi, Nele Den Noortgate, Harriet Finne-Soveri, Tinne Smets, Lieve den Block and Katarzyna Szczerbińska ()
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Maciej Koniewski: Jagiellonian University
Ilona Barańska: Jagiellonian University Medical College
Violetta Kijowska: Jagiellonian University Medical College
Jenny T. Steen: Leiden University Medical Center
Anne B. Wichmann: Radboud University Medical Center
Sheila Payne: Lancaster University
Giovanni Gambassi: Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS
Nele Den Noortgate: Ghent University Hospital
Harriet Finne-Soveri: Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare
Tinne Smets: Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
Lieve den Block: Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
Katarzyna Szczerbińska: Jagiellonian University Medical College

European Journal of Ageing, 2022, vol. 19, issue 4, No 58, 1570 pages

Abstract: Abstract The Family Perceptions of Physician-Family Caregiver Communication scale (FPPFC) was developed to assess quality of physician-family end-of-life communication in nursing homes. However, its validity has been tested only in the USA and the Netherlands. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the FPPFC construct validity and its reliability, as well as the psychometric characteristics of the items comprising the scale. Data were collected in cross-sectional study in Belgium, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands and Poland. The factorial structure was tested in confirmatory factor analysis. Item parameters were obtained using an item response theory model. Participants were 737 relatives of nursing home residents who died up to 3 months prior to the study. In general, the FPPFC scale proved to be a unidimensional and reliable measure of the perceived quality of physician-family communication in nursing home settings in all five countries. Nevertheless, we found unsatisfactory fit to the data with a confirmatory model. An item that referred to advance care planning performed less well in Poland and Italy than in the Northern European countries. In the item analysis, we found that with no loss of reliability and with increased coherency of the item content across countries, the full 7-item version can be shortened to a 4-item version, which may be more appropriate for international studies. Therefore, we recommend use of the brief 4-item FPPFC version by nursing home managers and professionals as an evaluation tool, and by researchers for their studies as these four items confer the same meaning across countries.

Keywords: Physician–patient relation; Family caregivers; Nursing home; Terminal care; Validation study; Cross-sectional Study (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1007/s10433-022-00742-x

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