This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a colleague Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Save to my personal folders Download to citation manager Rights & Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Lobchuk, M. M. Articles by Degner, L. F. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Lobchuk, M. M. Articles by Degner, L. F. Social Bookmarking                            What's this?

Symptom Experiences: Perceptual Accuracy Between Advanced-Stage Cancer Patients and Family Caregivers in the Home Care Setting

From the Faculty of Nursing, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

Address reprint requests to Michelle Lobchuk, PhD, Faculty of Nursing, University of Manitoba, Rm 312, Helen Glass Centre for Nursing, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3T 2N2; email: michelle_lobchuk@ umanitoba.ca.

PURPOSE: This study used a comparative descriptive design to compare family caregivers’ and advanced-stage cancer patients’ perceptions of patients’ multidimensional symptom experiences on presence, frequency, severity, and distress.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: A convenience sample of 98 dyads, composed of advanced-stage heterogeneous cancer patients and their caregivers, completed the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale in the home care setting on a one-time basis. This scale is a 32-item Likert-type scale for assessing the presence, frequency, severity, and distress arising from symptoms in cancer patients.

RESULTS: There was confirmation of trends previously described in related studies where, for example, caregivers tend to overreport on symptom experiences. However, the degree of absolute difference between patient and caregiver responses was normally around 1 unit (on a theoretical range of 0 to 4 units). Levels of patient-caregiver agreement were better on more concrete questions related to symptom frequency, severity, and distress than on broad questions related to the presence of a symptom. Patients and caregivers achieved better levels of agreement on physical versus psychological symptoms.

CONCLUSION: The findings indicated that family caregivers can provide reasonable proxy or complementary reports on patient symptom experiences of frequency, severity, and distress. However, family caregivers have greater difficulty in achieving high levels of accuracy on psychological versus physical symptoms.

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Facebook    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				E. Finlay, S. Shreve, and D. Casarett Nationwide Veterans Affairs Quality Measure for Cancer: The Family Assessment of Treatment at End of Life J. Clin. Oncol., August 10, 2008; 26(23): 3838 - 3844. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Siew Tzuh Tang, C.-Y. Li, and Y.-C. Liao Factors associated with depressive distress among Taiwanese family caregivers of cancer patients at the end of life Palliative Medicine, April 1, 2007; 21(3): 249 - 257. [Abstract] [PDF]

				S. Resnizky and N. Bentur Can Family Caregivers of Terminally Ill Patients Be a Reliable Source of Information About the Severity of Patient Symptoms? American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, January 1, 2007; 23(6): 447 - 456. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J. Kirkova, M. P. Davis, D. Walsh, E. Tiernan, N. O'Leary, S. B. LeGrand, R. L. Lagman, and K. M. Russell Cancer Symptom Assessment Instruments: A Systematic Review J. Clin. Oncol., March 20, 2006; 24(9): 1459 - 1473. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]