Measuring quality of life in hospice patients using a newly developed Hospice Quality of Life Index.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the validity and reliability of the newly developed Hospice Quality of Life Index (HQLI). Sixty-eight patient/caregiver dyads from one hospice were asked to fill out the HQLI on admission and after 3 weeks of hospice care. Hospice experts evaluated the items on the tool to assess content validity. The content validity index (0.83) and the alpha coefficients (r = 0.87 and 0.83) supported the validity and reliability of the HQLI. Item analysis revealed items with which patients were most satisfied and aspects of quality of life that were considered to be most important.