Is the life space assessment applicable to a palliative care population? Its relationship to measures of performance and quality of life

Jane Louise PHILLIPS, Lawrence Tak-Ming LAM, Tim LUCKAETT, Meera AGAR, David CURROW

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13 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Context: The spatial environments that palliative care patients frequent for business and leisure constrict as their disease progresses and their physical functioning deteriorates. Measuring a person's movement within his or her own environment is a clinically relevant and patient-centered outcome because it measures function in a way that reflects actual and not theoretical participation. Objective: This exploratory study set out to test whether the Life-Space Assessment (LSA) would correlate with other commonly used palliative care outcome measures of function and quality of life. Methods: The baseline LSA, Australian Karnofsky Performance Scale (AKPS), and the European Organization for the Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 15-Palliative (EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL) scores from two large clinical trials were used to calculate correlation coefficients between the measures. Convergent validity analysis was undertaken by comparing LSA scores between participants with higher (≥70) and lower (≤60) AKPS scores. Results: The LSA was correlated significantly and positively with the AKPS, with a moderate correlation coefficient of 0.54 (P < 0.001). There was a significant weak negative correlation between the LSA and the EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL, with a small coefficient of −0.22 (P = 0.027), but a strong correlation between the LSA and the EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL item related to independent activities of daily living (r = −0.654, P < 0.01). A significant difference in the LSA score between participants with higher (≥70) and lower (≤60) AKPS scores t(97) = −4.35, P < 0.001) was found. Conclusion: The LSA appears applicable to palliative care populations given the convergent validity and capacity of this instrument to differentiate a person's ability to move through life-space zones by performance status. Further research is required to validate and apply the LSA within community palliative care populations. Copyright © 2014 U.S. Cancer Pain Relief Committee. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1121-1127
JournalJournal of Pain and Symptom Management
Volume47
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2014

Citation

Phillips, J. L., Lam, L., Luckett, T., Agar, M., & Currow, D. (2014). Is the life space assessment applicable to a palliative care population? Its relationship to measures of performance and quality of life. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 47(6), 1121-1127.

Keywords

  • Hospice
  • Palliative care
  • Activities of daily living
  • Outcome measures
  • Validation
  • Performance status
  • Mobility
  • Quality of life

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