Measuring the Quality of Care Related to Pain Management: A Multiple-Method Approach to Instrument Development

Grand rounds in methodology: designing for integration in mixed methods research

Mixed methods research is a popular approach used to understand persistent and complex problems related to quality and safety, such as reasons why interventions are not implemented as intended or explaining differential outcomes. However, the quality and rigour of mixed methods research proposals and publications often miss opportunities for integration, which is the core of mixed methods. Achieving integration remains challenging, and failing to integrate reduces the benefits of a mixed methods approach. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to guide quality and safety researchers in planning and designing a mixed methods study that facilitates integration. We highlight how meaningful integration in mixed methods research can be achieved by centring integration at the following levels: research question, design, methods, results and reporting and interpretation levels. A holistic view of integration through all these levels will enable researchers to provide better answers to complex problems and thereby contribute to improvement of safety and quality of care.

Evaluating the Quality of Pain Management Satisfaction Among Oncology Patients in a Hospital Setting: Psychometric Properties of the Arabic Version of Pain Care Quality Survey

PURPOSE

The purpose of this mixed-methods psychometric study was to translate and adapt the Arabic Pain Care Quality (APainCQ) Survey to Arabic and to measure the quality of pain care provided to Arab patients.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

This study used an iterative, mixed-methods approach that employed cognitive interviews, expert content analysis, and factor analysis to develop the APainCQ Survey. The study was conducted at Dubai Hospital, Dubai Health Authority, United Arab Emirates. Arabic-speaking patients admitted to the oncology/hematology inpatient units with a minimum 24-hour stay were eligible for the study.

RESULTS

The sample consisted of 155 patients. The iterative exploratory factor analysis process resulted in the sequential removal of three items. The results of the significant Bartlett test (P < .001) of sphericity and Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin test of 0.93 for both the health care team scale and the nurse scale. The total variance explained was 76.17% for the health care team scale and 60.91% for the nurse scale, which explained 56.51% for factor 1 with 14 items and 4.40% for factor 2. Regarding internal consistency reliability, Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega for the health care team scale and nurse scale were high; both values were .95. Internal consistency reliability of pain assessment and pain management subscales of nurse scales were also high, with values of 0.96 and 0.79, respectively. Moreover, there was a moderate correlation (r = 0.66; P < .001) between the two subscales in the nurse scale.

CONCLUSION

This study provides evidence that the APainCQ is a reliable and valid measure of pain dimensions, including pain management and monitoring. This APainCQ scale can potentially expand research and clinical assessment in the Arab world.

Cross-Cultural Translation of the nChinese Version of Pain Care Quality Surveys (C-PainCQ)

Health disparities in pain care continue to exist among non-English-speaking Chinese-Americans. The Pain Care Quality?© (PainCQ) surveys, a valid instrument measuring the quality of pain care from the patient’s perspective, is available only in English currently. This study generated a Chinese version of the PainCQ (C-PainCQ) following a cross-cultural translation approach to address health equity in pain care. A multicultural, bilingual expert team produced a good quality, prefinal version of C-PainCQ. Chinese-speaking patients (n = 55) evaluated conceptual and content equivalence while bilingual participants (n = 13) reviewed semantic equivalence of C-PainCQ items. Feedback from participants, including adding a new item related to education on medication compliance, was used to revise the tool. This C-PainCQ is ready for future research to examine the reliability and construct validity with a large sample of Chinese-speaking patients.

Bundling Interventions to Enhance Pain Care Quality (BITE Pain) in Medical Surgical Patients

Background: Inadequate pain management and undertreatment remain a serious clinical issue among hospitalized adults, contributing to chronic pain syndromes and opioid dependency. Implementation of individual pain care interventions has been insufficient to improve pain care quality. The purpose of this interprofessional, patient-centered project was to implement a 6-component bundle of evidence-based pain management strategies to improve patients' perception of pain care quality and 24-hour pain experience outcomes. Methods: A quasi-experimental design was used to test the effect of a bundled pain management intervention on 3 medical surgical units. Baseline outcomes using the Pain Care Quality-Interdisciplinary (PainCQ-I^©) and Pain Care Quality-Nursing (PainCQ-N^©) surveys were measured monthly for 4 months preintervention and 30 months postintervention. Results: A convenience sample of 846 patients was analyzed. The effect of the intervention on pain outcomes could not be tested because unit-based adherence did not meet the goal of 80%. A subsample of 70.2% (594/846) of participants was sufficient to complete a 3-group analysis of preintervention and postintervention participants with confirmed intervention adherence. Participants in the postintervention group who received all 6 components (n=65) had significantly higher odds of higher PainCQ^© scores than those in the preintervention group (n=141) (PainCQ-I^©: odds ratio [OR] 2.61, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.54-4.42; PainCQ-N^©: OR 3.82, 95% CI 2.06-7.09) or those in the postintervention group receiving ≤5 components (n=388) (PainCQ-I^©: OR 2.52, 95% CI 1.57-4.03; PainCQ-N^©: OR 3.84, 95% CI 2.17-6.80). Conclusion: Medical surgical patients participating in this study who received the bundled 6-component intervention reported significantly higher levels of perceived pain care quality, suggesting that a bundled approach may be more beneficial than unstandardized strategies.

Dissemination and Implementation of Patient-centered Indicators of Pain Care Quality and Outcomes

BACKGROUND

Previous approaches to measuring and improving nursing-sensitive, patient-centered metrics of pain quality and outcomes in hospitalized patients have been limited.

METHODS

In this translational research study, we disseminated and implemented pain quality indicators in 1611 medical and/or surgical, step-down, rehabilitation, critical access, and obstetrical (postpartum) units from 326 US hospitals participating in the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators. Eligible patients were English-speaking adults in pain. Trained nurses collected patients' perceptions via structured interview including 9 pain quality indicators, demographic, and clinical variables; these patient experience data were merged with unit and hospital level data. Analyses included geographic mapping; summary statistics and 3-level mixed effects modeling.

RESULTS

Hospitals in 45 states and District of Columbia participated. Of 22,293 screened patients, 15,012 were eligible; 82% verbally consented and participated. Pain prevalence was 72%. Participants were 59.4% female; ages ranged from 19 to 90+ (median: 59 y); 27.3% were nonwhite and 6.5% were Hispanic. Pain intensity on average over the past 24 hours was 6.03 (SD=2.45) on a 0-10 scale. 28.5% of patients were in severe pain frequently or constantly. Race (nonwhite), younger age, being female and nonsurgical were associated (P<0.001) with greater pain. Care quality indicators ranking lowest related to discussion of analgesic side effects and use of nonpharmacologic approaches.

CONCLUSIONS

Unrelieved pain remains a high-volume problem. Individual factors and unit type were significantly associated with pain outcomes. Hospitals can employ these quality indicators to direct continuous quality improvement targeting pain care quality.

Assessing Faculty and Student Interpretations of AACP Survey Items with Cognitive Interviewing

Objective. To use cognitive interviewing techniques to determine faculty and student interpretation of a subset of items from the AACP faculty and graduating student surveys. Methods. Students and faculty were interviewed individually in a private room. The interviewer asked each respondent for his/her interpretation of 15 randomly selected items from the graduating student survey or 20 items from the faculty survey. Results. While many items were interpreted consistently by respondents, the researchers identified several items that were either difficult to interpret or produced differing interpretations. Conclusion. Several interpretational inconsistencies and ambiguities were discovered that could compromise the usefulness of certain survey items.

Honoring the Everyday Preferences of Nursing Home Residents: Perceived Choice and Satisfaction With Care

Purpose of the Study

The nursing home (NH) culture change movement advocates for residents to be able to make choices about important aspects of their care. This study seeks to understand NH residents' perceptions of choice that they have in the care they receive while in the NH setting. We examine the association between residents' perceived choice and satisfaction with care preferences being met using a mixed methods approach.

Design and Methods

Using the Preferences of Everyday Living Inventory, cognitive interviews were completed with 39 NH residents which resulted in a total of 600 item-level ratings of residents' perceived choice and satisfaction and corresponding open-ended comments on choice.

Results

Quantitative findings revealed a significant Pearson correlation between residents' perceived choice and satisfaction (r = .47, p < .001). Participants' responses of free choice were linked to significantly higher ratings of satisfaction compared to no choice and some choice. Responses of some choice were associated with significantly higher ratings of satisfaction than the no choice group. Open-ended comments provided greater depth in understanding regarding how residents perceive the level of choice in fulfilling their preferences.

Implications

This study establishes a positive association between NH residents' perceived choice and feelings of satisfaction with their care preferences being met. Offering choices that are deemed favorable or solicited from NH residents is a fundamental step toward increasing resident satisfaction with NH care.

Assessment of post-operative pain management among acutely and electively admitted patients - a Swedish ward perspective

RATIONALE, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

Swedish health care is regulated to involve the patient in every intervention process. In the area of post-operative pain, it is therefore important to evaluate patient experience of the quality of pain management. Previous research has focused on mapping this area but not on comparing experiences between acutely and electively admitted patients. Hence, the aim of this study was to investigate the experiences of post-operative pain management quality among acutely and electively admitted patients at a Swedish surgical department performing soft-tissue surgery.

METHODS

A survey study design was used as a method based on a multidimensional instrument to assess post-operative pain management: Strategic and Clinical Quality Indicators in Postoperative Pain Management (SCQIPP). Consecutive patients at all wards of a university hospital's surgical department were included. Data collection was performed at hospital discharge.

RESULTS

In total, 160 patients participated, of whom 40 patients were acutely admitted. A significant difference between acutely and electively admitted patients was observed in the SCQIPP area of environment, whereas acute patients rated the post-operative pain management quality lower compared with those who were electively admitted.

CONCLUSIONS

There may be a need for improvement in the areas of post-operative pain management in Sweden, both specifically and generally. There may also be a difference in the experience of post-operative pain quality between acutely and electively admitted patients in this study, specifically in the area of environment. In addition, low levels of the perceived quality of post-operative pain management among the patients were consistent, but satisfaction with analgesic treatment was rated as good.

Cognitive Interviewing: Revising the Preferences for Everyday Living Inventory for Use In the Nursing Home

A valid tool is needed to assess preferences that are relevant and important to nursing home (NH) residents. Originally developed for older adults receiving home care services, the authors adapted the Preferences for Everyday Living Inventory (PELI) for use with NH residents. Content validity was initially established using a panel of experts in long-term care. PELI items were cognitively interviewed with 31 Veteran and 39 non-Veteran participants (N = 70). Responses from cognitive interviewing guided substantial revisions of the PELI (>25% of items) to include language that NH residents use and understand, reducing potential measurement error and ensuring the preferences assessed are relevant to NH residents. Future work will further adapt the PELI for use with more diverse groups and health care settings, and assess its psychometric properties. Using the PELI will help move clinical teams closer to the goal of providing person-centered care informed by individual preferences.

Measuring professional satisfaction in Greek nurses: combination of qualitative and quantitative investigation to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Index of Work Satisfaction

PURPOSE

The Index of Work Satisfaction (IWS) is a comprehensive scale assessing nurses' professional satisfaction. The aim of the present study was to explore: a) the applicability, reliability and validity of the Greek version of the IWS and b) contrasts among the factors addressed by IWS against the main themes emerging from a qualitative phenomenological investigation of nurses' professional experiences.

METHODS

A descriptive correlational design was applied using a sample of 246 emergency and critical care nurses. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were tested. Construct and content validity were assessed by factor analysis, and through qualitative phenomenological analysis with a purposive sample of 12 nurses. Scale factors were contrasted to qualitative themes to assure that IWS embraces all aspects of Greek nurses' professional satisfaction.

RESULTS

The internal consistency (α = 0.81) and test-retest (tau = 1, p < 0.0001) reliability were adequate. Following appropriate modifications, factor analysis confirmed the construct validity of the scale and subscales. The qualitative data partially clarified the low reliability of one subscale.

CONCLUSIONS

The Greek version of the IWS scale is supported for use in acute care. The mixed methods approach constitutes a powerful tool for transferring scales to different cultures and healthcare systems.

"It Depends": Reasons Why Nursing Home Residents Change Their Minds About Care Preferences

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

Understanding and honoring preferences are fundamental in the promotion of well-being for frail elders. This study aims to understand and describe nursing home residents' perspectives on why the importance of their preferences may change in daily care.

DESIGN AND METHODS

Secondary data analyses of cognitive interviews with 39 cognitively capable nursing home residents regarding their importance of preferences for everyday living were completed. Interviews were coded by 5 team members for reasons why residents may change their minds about the importance of their preferences or why their preferences may be restricted; discrepancies were reconciled through consensus.

RESULTS

Content analysis revealed 4 major domains: within person (e.g., functional ability, personal schedule), facility environment (e.g., facility schedule, facility policy), social environment (e.g., quality and type of interactions), and global environment (e.g., weather, current events, special occasions). Residents reflected that the importance of their preferences fluctuated "depending upon" the circumstances related to these factors or their ability to perform the preference (i.e., barriers they encountered). A total of 27 themes for dependencies and barriers were identified.

IMPLICATIONS

Findings indicate that nursing home residents' preferences may change in importance or fulfillment in relation to personal or environmental circumstances. In order to develop formal care that matches older adults' preferences, regular assessment of both elders' preferences and the contextual factors affecting preferences is needed. However, given the changing nature of preference importance, there is also a need to determine how to best balance older adults' changing preferences within care delivery environments.

Are we missing the Institute of Medicine's mark? A systematic review of patient-reported outcome measures assessing quality of patient-centred cancer care

BACKGROUND

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) has endorsed six dimensions of patient-centredness as crucial to providing quality healthcare. These dimensions outline that care must be: 1) respectful to patients' values, preferences, and expressed needs; 2) coordinated and integrated; 3) provide information, communication, and education; 4) ensure physical comfort; 5) provide emotional support-relieving fear and anxiety; and 6) involve family and friends. However, whether patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) comprehensively cover these dimensions remains unexplored. This systematic review examined whether PROMs designed to assess the quality of patient-centred cancer care addressed all six IOM dimensions of patient-centred care and the psychometric properties of these measures.

METHODS

Medline, PsycINFO, Current Contents, Embase, CINAHL and Scopus were searched to retrieve published studies describing the development and psychometric properties of PROMs assessing the quality of patient-centred cancer care. Two authors determined if eligible PROMs included the six IOM dimensions of patient-centred care and evaluated the adequacy of psychometric properties based on recommended criteria for internal consistency, test-retest reliability, face/content validity, construct validity and cross-cultural adaptation.

RESULTS

Across all 21 PROMs, the most commonly included IOM dimension of patient-centred care was "information, communication and education" (19 measures). In contrast, only five measures assessed the "involvement of family and friends." Two measures included one IOM-endorsed patient-centred care dimension, two measures had two dimensions, seven measures had three dimensions, five measures had four dimensions, and four measures had five dimensions. One measure, the Indicators (Non-small Cell Lung Cancer), covered all six IOM dimensions of patient-centred care, but had adequate face/content validity only. Eighteen measures met the recommended adequacy criteria for construct validity, 15 for face/content validity, seven for internal consistency, three for cross-cultural adaptation and no measure for test-retest reliability.

CONCLUSIONS

There are no psychometrically rigorous PROMs developed with cancer patients that capture all six IOM dimensions of patient-centred care. Using more than one measure or expanding existing measures to cover all six patient-centred care dimensions could improve assessment and delivery of patient-centred care. Construction of new comprehensive measures with acceptable psychometric properties that can be used with the general cancer population may also be warranted.

Adapting cognitive interviewing for nursing research

Cognitive interviewing (CI) has been used by instrument developers to examine how well an instrument generates the intended data when tested with prospective respondents. In using CI to test a new instrument to measure patients' perceptions of the quality of nursing care, the authors found challenges in applying a theory-based traditional CI approach derived from experimental psychology to more clinically oriented nursing research. The purposes of this article are to describe these challenges and the modifications of CI to capture the nursing care perspectives of hospitalized participants, and to present interpretive phenomenology as a theoretical orientation for clinically situated CI.

Measuring nurses' impact on health care quality: progress, challenges, and future directions

BACKGROUND

Quality measurement is central in efforts to improve health care delivery and financing. The Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative supported interdisciplinary research teams to address gaps in measuring the contributions of nursing to quality care.

OBJECTIVE

To summarize the research of 4 interdisciplinary teams funded by The Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative and reflect on challenges and future directions to improving quality measurement.

METHODS

Each team summarized their work including the targeted gap in measurement, the methods used, key results, and next steps. The authors discussed key challenges and recommended future directions.

RESULTS

These exemplar projects addressed cross-cutting issues related to quality; developed measures of patient experience; tested new ways to model the important relationships between structure, process, and outcome; measured care across the continuum; focused on positive aspects of care; examined the relationship of nursing care with outcomes; and measured both nursing and interdisciplinary care.

DISCUSSION

Challenges include: measuring care delivery from multiple perspectives; determining the dose of care delivered; and measuring the entire care process. Meaningful measures that are simple, feasible, affordable, and integrated into the care delivery system and electronic health record are needed. Advances in health information systems create opportunities to advance quality measurement in innovative ways.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings and products add to the robust set of measures needed to measure nurses' contributions to the care of hospitalized patients. The implementation of these projects has been rich with lessons about the ongoing challenges related to quality measurement.

Confirmatory factor analysis of the pain care quality surveys (PainCQ©)

OBJECTIVE

To examine the reliability and validity and to decrease the battery of items in the Pain Care Quality (PainCQ(©) ) Surveys.

DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING

Patient-reported data were collected prospectively from 337 hospitalized adult patients with pain on medical/surgical oncology units in four hospitals in three states.

STUDY DESIGN

This methodological study used a cross-sectional survey design. Each consenting patient completed two PainCQ(©) Surveys, the Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form, and demographic questions. Clinical data were extracted from the medical record.

DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS

All data were double entered into a Microsoft Access database, cleaned, and then extracted into SPSS, AMOS, and Mplus for analysis.

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS

Confirmatory factor analysis using Structural Equation Modeling supported the initial factor structure. Modification indices guided decisions that resulted in a superior, parsimonious model for the PainCQ-Interdisciplinary Care Survey (six items, two subscales) and the PainCQ-Nursing Care Survey (14 items, three subscales). Cronbach's alpha coefficients all exceeded .80.

CONCLUSIONS

Cumulative evidence supports the reliability and validity of the companion PainCQ(©) Surveys in hospitalized patients with pain in the oncology setting. The tools may be relevant in both clinical research and quality improvement. Future research is recommended in other populations, settings, and with more diverse groups.

Self-management: a systematic review of outcome measures adopted in self-management interventions for stroke

Purpose

To systematically review the psychometric properties of outcome measures used in stroke self-management interventions (SMIs) to (1) inform researchers, clinicians and commissioners about the properties of the measures in use and (2) make recommendations for the future development of self-management measurement in stroke.

Methods

Electronic databases, government websites, generic internet search engines and hand searches of reference lists. Abstracts were selected against inclusion criteria and retrieved for appraisal and systematically scored, using the COSMIN checklist.

Results

Thirteen studies of stroke self-management originating from six countries were identified. Forty-three different measures (mean 5.08/study, SD 2.19) were adopted to evaluate self-SMIs. No studies measured self-management as a discreet concept. Six (46%) studies included untested measures. Eleven (85%) studies included at least one measure without reported reliability and validity in stroke populations.

Conclusions

The use of outcome measures which are related, indirect or proxy indicators of self-management and that have questionable reliability and validity, contributes to an inability to sensitively evaluate the effectiveness of stroke self-SMIs. Further enquiry into how the concept of self-management in stroke operates, would help to clarify the nature and range of specific self-management activities to be targeted and aid the selection of existing appropriate measures or the development of new measures.

Evaluating the quality of pain management in a hospital setting: testing the psychometric properties of the Icelandic version of the revised American Pain Society patient outcome questionnaire

Pain management is an important aspect of providing quality health care, and monitoring patient-related outcomes is a recommended quality improvement practice. Valid and reliable tools are needed for this purpose. The American Pain Society Patient Outcome Questionnaire (APS-POQ) is widely used to measure quality of pain management. The APS-POQ was recently revised to reflect advances in pain management. The purpose of this study was to test the psychometric properties of the revised version in Icelandic patients in the hospital setting. The questionnaire was translated according to an adaptation of Brislin's model. Data were collected from 143 patients on 23 wards in a university hospital. Participants were ≥ 18 years old, hospitalized for >24 hours, alert, not too ill to participate, and in pain ≥ 1 on a 0-10 scale in the past 24 hours. Mean (SD) age was 66 (18) years, 51.4% were women, 48.6% men. Principal component analysis with varimax rotation confirmed a five-component structure, but four items lowered reliability and were removed from the scales. The final version consists of four components, with Cronbach α >.70, explaining 64.2% of the variance. Participants had little difficulty in answering the questionnaire, but two additional items about participation in decisions and pain medications were added in response to patients' comments and suggestions. Administering the Icelandic version of the APS-POQ-R was found to be feasible, and the questionnaire has acceptable construct validity and reliability. The results support the use of the APS-POQ-R-I to evaluate the quality of pain management in hospitals in Iceland.

An overview of intestine and multivisceral transplantation

Intestine transplantation remains a formidable clinical and immunologic challenge. With newer immunosuppressive agents and accumulated experience, the survival outcomes for these patients are improving. The relationship of recipient preexisting conditions with the risk of postoperative events clearly emphasize the necessity of early referral of patients with intestinal failure to expert transplant program before the onset of life-threatening complications.30 With increased awareness and knowledge regarding referral criteria, transplant criteria, optimal time for transplantation, and medication regiments, improved patient outcomes after intestine and multivisceral transplant will be achieved.