Questionnaires measuring quality of life and satisfaction of patients and their relatives in a palliative care setting-German translation of FAMCARE-2 and the palliative care subscale of FACIT-Pal.

Abstract

The evaluation of quality of life (QoL) and satisfaction with care in palliative care patients and their relatives is an important aspect of palliative care research, likewise important to get a direct feedback for the success of treatment. Here, questionnaires are important tools for measuring outcomes of care in medicine. Several validated, predominantly English, questionnaires already exist. These have been translated in different languages but German. The Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT) is an established tool for the evaluation of QoL in cancer patients. The FACIT-Pal, a 46-itemquestionnaire of this group of questionnaires, measures the QoL in palliative care patients. It includes a new palliative care subscale which is not yet available in German. The FAMCARE-2, a 17-item-questionnaire, evaluates the relatives' satisfaction with the care and support they received from palliative care team. The translation process followed a protocol including multiple independent translators as well as a forth and back translation. A German version of FAMCARE-2 and FACIT-Pal was translated based on the original questionnaire. Relevant differences between the English original versions and the back translations weren't revealed by the original scale developers. The final versions of the German translations have been authorized by the scale developers. The FAMCARE-2 and the FACIT-Pal are now available in German and can be used for research and quality control purposes.