Validating care and treatment scenarios for measuring decisional conflict regarding future care preferences among older adults

Article

SINCLAIR, Craig | YEOH, Ling | KARUSOO-MUSUMECI, Ava | AURET, Kirsten A. | CLAYTON, Josephine M. | HILGEMAN, Michelle | HALCOMB, Elizabeth | SINCLAIR, Ron | MARTINI, Angelita | MELLER, Anne | WALTON, Rebecca | WEI, Li | DAO-TRAN, Tiet-Hanh | KURRLE, Susan | COMANS, Tracy

OBJECTIVE: Decisional conflict is used increasingly as an outcome measure in advance care planning (ACP) studies. When the Decisional Conflict Scale (DCS) is used in anticipatory decision-making contexts, the scale is typically tethered to hypothetical scenarios. This study reports preliminary validation data for hypothetical scenarios relating to life-sustaining treatments and care utilisation to inform their broader use in ACP studies. METHODS: Three hypothetical scenarios were developed by a panel of multidisciplinary researchers, clinicians and community representatives. A convenience sample of 262 older adults were surveyed. Analyses investigated comprehensibility, missing data properties, sample norms, structural, convergent and discriminant validity. RESULTS: Response characteristics suggested that two of the scenarios had adequate comprehensibility and response spread. Missing response rates were unrelated to demographic characteristics. Predicted associations between DCS scores and anxiety (r's = .31–.37, p < .001), and ACP engagement (r's = -.41 to -.37, p < .001) indicated convergent validity. CONCLUSION: A substantial proportion of older adults reported clinically significant levels of decisional conflict when responding to a range of hypothetical scenarios about care or treatment. Two scenarios showed acceptable comprehensibility and response characteristics. A third scenario may be suitable following further refinement. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: The scenarios tested here were designed in collaboration with a community representative and were further piloted with two groups of community members with relevant lived experiences; four people with life-limiting conditions and five current or former care partners.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/hex.14010

Voir la revue «Health expectations, 27»

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• Outil
• Outil d'anticipation
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