Development of a Self-Report Scale of Nursing Practice in Pain Management for Older Patients with Cancer and Dementia

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to develop the Pain Management Scale for Older Patients with Cancer and Dementia (PMSOP-CAD), and to examine its reliability and validity.

Methods: We drafted a scale for elderly cancer patients with moderate to severe dementia, based on concepts derived from our past qualitative research, a literature review, and an expert panel. The questionnaires were distributed to 889 ward nurses who had at least three years of experience in clinical nursing care for older patients with cancer and dementia.

Results: The PMSOP-CAD consisted of 32 items. We conducted exploratory factor analysis and extracted 6 factors including, for example, “further understanding older patients with dementia, respecting their physical and emotionally expressive ability and their own pace to seek their comfort” and “inferring where the pain comes from while continuing to observe and collate signs and symptoms.” The Cronbach’s α for the entire scale was .95, the intraclass correlation coefficient by retests was .58, the correlation coefficient indicating concurrent validity was .64.

Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that the validity and reliability of PMSOP-CAD was confirmed to be within a statistically acceptable.