Preferences for care near the end of life: scale development and validation.

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate an instrument, the Preferences for Care near the End of Life (PCEOL) scale. Following a literature review and using the domain-referenced approach and a test grid, a large pool of items was generated to reflect five dimensions of preferences for care near the end of life. These were reviewed for relevance and clarity by an expert panel. A convenience sample of 198 adults was secured to provide data for the study of the psychometric properties of the scale. Data screening and item analysis resulted in a final sample of 43 items. A principal factor analysis (PFA) resulted in an interpretable, meaningful five-factor solution. Reliability estimates (internal consistency) for the factors on the multidimensional instrument ranged from.68 to.91. Retest stability estimates for the PCEOL showed correlations of.80 to.94 for factor scores over a 2-week interval. Copyright 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.