A new Italian questionnaire to assess caregivers of cancer patients' satisfaction with palliative care: multicenter validation of the post mortem questionnaire-short form.

Context: Caregiver satisfaction with palliative care is a crucial indicator of its effectiveness. In light of the lack of validated or reliable Italian instruments, the Post Mortem Questionnaire-Short Form (QPM-SF), a self-report questionnaire, has been developed to assess home and inpatient hospice care.

Objectives: The present study was designed to evaluate the psychometric properties of QPM-SF and assess for differences in quality of palliative care between hospice and home care settings.

Health risk factors in caregivers of terminal cancer patients: a pilot study.

Background: A large body of literature sustains the association between long-lasting caregiving for impaired significant others and increased health risk. Depression, elevated heart rate, and blood pressure at rest are key measures of health risk, mostly cardiovascular, which have been generally studied in caregivers of patients affected by dementia or chronic illness. Limited research has been conducted on emotional and cardiovascular impact of family caregiving for terminally ill cancer patients.