Measuring patient outcomes in palliative care: a reliability and validity study of the Support Team Assessment Schedule.

This study reports the process and results of a psychometric evaluation of a clinical audit tool, the Support Team Assessment Schedule (STAS), used to measure outcomes of palliative care. The STAS was developed in London, UK to audit community palliative care services provided by a support team. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the STAS when introduced in a different setting and with different populations from those for which it had been designed. Evaluation of the STAS was completed using multidisciplinary team members, patients and families from a palliative care unit and an oncology unit of a large urban Canadian teaching hospital. The results from the reliability tests revealed a lack of consistency in the use of the tool by team members with simulated patients in clinical scenarios. The validity analysis highlighted the differences between patients, families and health care professionals' perceptions of the same clinical situation. This study provided a valuable perspective on using a previously developed clinical audit tool in different patient populations and clinical settings. Recommendations for future use of the tool are offered.