The Suffering Pictogram: Measuring Suffering in Palliative Care

摘要

Background: Measuring suffering objectively presents a challenge because suffering is a unique and subjective experience. However, objective tools are of profound importance in the detection and management of suffering in clinical practice for optimal patient care. Objective: The objective of the study is to assess the psychometric properties of the Suffering Pictogram, a new suffering assessment instrument on a population of palliative care patients. Design and Setting: This is a validation study conducted at University of Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Ninety one palliative care patients were recruited. Patients were interviewed with the Suffering Pictogram and FACIT-Sp. Results: The median completion time for the Suffering Pictogram was five minutes. The Suffering Pictogram showed good internal consistency, with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.836. The total scores of the Suffering Pictogram correlated strongly and negatively with FACIT-Sp total score (Spearman's Rho=-0.625, p<0.001). Conclusion: The Suffering Pictogram is a brief, reliable, and valid instrument to measure suffering in palliative care. The instrument can be used as a screening tool to detect suffering directly.