Peculiarities of using the SF-36 questionnaire in palliative oncological patients

Abstract

Determining the quality of life of palliative patients is an important indicator of patients' assessment of the quality of medical care in hospice institutions of Ukraine during the change of the palliative and hospice care financing system with the transition to package financing of medical services by the National Health Service of Ukraine under the medical guarantee program. But the standard SF-36 quality-of-life questionnaire contains a number of inappropriate questions about the physical condition of patients that do not correspond to their mobility limitations due to the severity of the disease. Therefore, the SF-36 questionnaire was modified by us while preserving the qualitative weight of the questions. We started determining the quality of life of palliative patients in the patients of the Communal Non-Profit Enterprise of the Kharkiv Regional Council "Regional Center of Palliative Medicine "Hospice" (hereinafter – Kharkiv Hospice) in 2022. The number of surveyed patients in departments of neurological and oncologic profiles did not correspond to the minimum representative number. The minimum required number of patients with an oncological profile treated in the Kharkiv hospice during 2022–2023 was determined by the method of calculating the median of the binomial distribution of the sample to ensure the representativeness of the study. The sample of patients was subjected to randomization, which increased the reliability of the study to a calculatedly proven high level. The minimum required number of patients was 31 people, each of whom had been under treatment for 3–7 months since the first survey. The article also shows the algorithm for modifying the questionnaire depending on the need to change the qualitative weight of the questions. It was concluded that it is necessary to continue the study of the quality of life of palliative oncology patients in the Kharkiv Hospice. Keywords: quality of life, palliative and hospice care, modification of questionnaires, qualimetry.