Is the life space assessment applicable to a palliative care population? Its relationship to measures of performance and quality of life
- Publication Type:
- Journal Article
- Citation:
- Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 2014, 47 (6), pp. 1121 - 1127
- Issue Date:
- 2014-01-01
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| Phillips_Is the life space_JPSM_2014.pdf | Published Version | 215.42 kB |
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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. Objectives 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, Australia-modified Karnofsky Performance Status Scale (AKPS), and the European Organization for 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. © 2014 U.S. Cancer Pain Relief Committee. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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