BACKGROUND: Although family satisfaction is recognized as a critical indicator of quality for @entity1 with @entity5 , it is rarely assessed as part of routine clinical care. Measurement burden may be one barrier to widespread use of family satisfaction measures. OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to test the ability of a new, brief 5-item measure of family satisfaction with care to accurately capture differences across hospital settings. DESIGN: Using data from the Palliative Care for @entity5 @entity1 study, a prospective study of 1979 @entity1 and caregivers, we used multivariate regression analysis to detect significant differences across five sites. SETTINGS: Hospitalized @entity1 with @entity5 and their caregivers Methods: We used both the shortened 5-item version of the FAMCARE scale (previously developed using Item Response Theory) and the original 20-item FAMCARE to measure family satisfaction. RESULTS: On the 5-item FAMCARE, sites ranged from mean scores of 5.5-6.9 out of a possible high score of 10. Family members at one care site (n   =   783) were significantly (p   <   0.05) less satisfied with their care than family members at four other care sites. The original 20-item measure failed to differentiate satisfaction levels between all hospital sites. DISCUSSION: Variability in family satisfaction with @entity5 care across hospital settings can be more sensitively detected using a brief 5-item questionnaire versus longer measures. The development of less lengthy and burdensome measures for monitoring family satisfaction, which are still valid, can facilitate routine assessments to maintain and promote high-quality care across care settings.

The Use of a Brief 5-Item Measure of Family Satisfaction as a Critical Quality Indicator in XXXX Care: A Multisite Comparison.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patients', 'Patients'] @entity5 :: ('MESH:D009369', 'Disease') :: ['Cancer', 'advanced cancer']
@entity5 :: (MESH:D009369,Disease) :: ['Advanced Cancer']
