An evaluation of the Decisional Conflict Scale for measuring the quality of end-of-life decision making

Abstract

Objective Researchers and clinicians acknowledge the complexity of planning for future medical treatment desired in the event of incapacitation. Unfortunately, many attempts to evaluate the quality of such difficult planning have been stymied by the lack of measures that can be shown to have validity. This study examines the psychometric characteristics of the Decisional Conflict Scale (DCS) when used as a measure of patients’ evaluation of their end-of-life decision-making process. Methods This evaluation used the combined data from two independent samples in which 59 outpatients with a life-threatening illness and their surrogate decision makers were assigned to receive, a decision aid intervention, the patient-centered advance care planning (PcACP), or usual care only. Results Internal consistency for the DCS in the end-of-life decision-making context was high. The DCS demonstrated convergent, construct, and discriminant validity based on the total scale scores. Conclusion The DCS appears to be a viable research instrument for measuring the quality of end-of-life decision making. However, the uncertainty subscale showed a weak discriminating ability and lack of association with the two other subscales, the modifiable factors contributing to uncertainty and the effectiveness of the decision making. Practice implications The findings of the study can be useful for measuring decisional conflict in individuals with serious illness facing end-of-life decision making.