Identification of Questionnaire Improvements to Assess Familial Support in Malignant Brain Tumor Patient

Abstract

BACKGROUND: To support decision-making for patients with malignant brain tumors, it is necessary to understand family needs during the hospitalization period. The assessment sheets and checklists generally used in the ward focus on the patient’s condition with only a few items related to family information. Many checklists are not tailored to the patient’s disease and therefore do not address changes in condition and neurological symptoms. Thus, based on previous research, this study aimed to extract items that clinical nurses consider necessary for the family members of patients with malignant brain tumors by filling out a self-administered assessment. METHODS: For the 92 self-made questions, the Delphi method was performed three times for the panelists; consensus was reached on the necessity of a family self-administered information gathering item. The patients’ families answered questions using a 1 - 5 rating scale to assess support required, with 5 being necessary and 1 being unnecessary. In the analysis of the 3rd survey, the consensus rate was calculated as follows: out of 5 options for each question, scores of 5 and 4 were combined and judged to be necessary. The average value was calculated as 87.3% and this value was used as the criterion for agreement. RESULTS: In the final round, answers from 45 panelists were obtained, and consensus was obtained for 47 questions. The 47 questions were extracted using the Delphi method based on reasonable condition settings and yielded reliable results. CONCLUSION: The data collected in this study can contribute to support programs aimed at helping families of patients with malignant brain tumors.