Abstract
Cardiac disease is a leading cause of death in the United States, and end-stage cardiac disease is characterized by high symptom burden and poor quality of life. The purpose of this study was to validate two tools for use with patients with end-stage cardiac disease who were receiving care in hospice settings-the Hospice Quality of Life Index and the Constipation Assessment Scale-and estimate their reliability in these patients. Thirty homecare hospice patients with end-stage cardiac disease were included in the sample. The mean age of the predominantly white sample was 73.8 years (SD = 34.4). The correlation between the Hospice Quality of Life Index and the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale-Heart Failure was at the predicted level (r = .41; P = .025), which supported its construct validity. Likewise, the construct validity of the Constipation Assessment Scale was supported by its correlations with the constipation item from the Hospice Quality of Life Index (r = .49; P = .006), the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale-Heart Failure (r = .72, P = .046), and the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale-Heart Failure Global Distress Score (r = .64; P = .000). Reliability of the Hospice Quality of Life Index (alpha = .78) and Constipation Assessment Scale (alpha = .71) was acceptably high. These results further support the use of these tools with hospice patients and provide support for use with patients who have end-stage cardiac disease in palliative care. Further study with larger and more diverse samples is needed, however.