Evaluación de las necesidades de pacientes oncológicos en etapa terminal (a través del instrumento ENPOET): comparación entre muestras

The purpose of the present study was to compare the way in which terminal cancer patients and their doctors assess the necessities of this particular type of patient. The sample was constituted by 91 patients and 85 doctors selected from different hospitals in Mexico City. The participants from the two samples were asked to answer a printed questionnaire that assessed the relative relevance of medical, psychological, social, economic and spiritual needs of the patients. The questionnaire Assessment of Terminal Cancer Patient Needs (ATCPN) was built based on other similar questionnaires and complemented by items designed by the present work group. The final questionnaire was composed by 38 items that explored the needs of the patients in 5 different areas: medical, psychological, social, economic and spiritual. The questionnaire produced data that suggested its reliability, validity and internal consistency. The results also showed a considerable homogeneity in the assessments produced by the two samples. The highest priority of the patients was having faith in god or in a supreme being; the doctors favored the ability to cope with the feeling of being forsaken. Results were discussed in terms of their congruence with other studies on the subject.El propósito del presente estudio fue el de comparar la forma en que pacientes con cáncer en etapa terminal y médicos evalúan las necesidades de este tipo de pacientes. La muestra estuvo constituida por 91 pacientes y 85 médicos seleccionados de diferentes hospitales de la Ciudad de México. Los integrantes de las muestras contestaron un cuestionario en el cual evaluaron la importancia de las necesidades médicas, psicológicas, sociales, económicas y espirituales de los pacientes. Para evaluar las necesidades de los pacientes terminales se construyó un cuestionario, Evaluación de las Necesidades de Pacientes Oncológicos en Etapa Terminal (ENPOET), basado en otros instrumentos similares y se complementó con reactivos diseñados por el grupo de investigación. El cuestionario fi- nal utilizado estuvo compuesto por 38 afirmaciones que exploraban las necesidades de los pacientes en cinco áreas diferentes: médica, psicológica, social, económica y espiritual. El cuestionario mostró ser válido, confiable y mostró una consistencia interna apropiada. Los resultados mostraron una considerable homogeneidad en las evaluaciones de las dos muestras. La necesidad evaluada más relevante para los pacientes fue “tener fe en Dios o en un Ser Supremo” y para los médicos “no sentirse desamparado”. Los resultados se discutieron en términos de su congruencia con otros estudios sobre el tema

Assessment of terminal cancer patients needs (through the ATCPN questionnaire): a comparison amongst different samples

The purpose of the present study was to compare the way in which terminal cancer patients and their doctors assess the necessities of this particular type of patient. The sample was constituted by 91 patients and 85 doctors selected from different hospitals in Mexico City. The participants from the two samples were asked to answer a printed questionnaire that assessed the relative relevance of medical, psychological, social, economic and spiritual needs of the patients. The questionnaire Assessment of Terminal Cancer Patient Needs (ATCPN) was built based on other similar questionnaires and complemented by items designed by the present work group. The final questionnaire was composed by 38 items that explored the needs of the patients in 5 different areas: medical, psychological, social, economic and spiritual. The questionnaire produced data that suggested its reliability, validity and internal consistency. The results also showed a considerable homogeneity in the assessments produced by the two samples. The highest priority of the patients was having faith in god or in a supreme being; the doctors favored the ability to cope with the feeling of being forsaken. Results were discussed in terms of their congruence with other studies on the subject