Psychometric properties of the suffering assessment questionnaire in adults with chronic diseases or life-threatening illness.

Background: Suffering has been considered by many authors to be a difficult concept to assess and measure, as it is subjective and unique. However, to guide the diagnosis and decision-making of healthcare professionals, it is important to develop an instrument that differentiates the different suffering dimensions, namely, intra- and interpersonal suffering, awareness of suffering and spiritual suffering.

Aim: The aim of this study was thus to design and validate an instrument for the assessment of the dimensions of suffering in adult patients with chronic diseases or life-threatening illnesses.

Method: A methodological study was developed. The data were collected from two self-help organisations and a palliative care unit. The theoretical model was tested using confirmatory factor analysis. The study sample consisted of 251 patients with chronic diseases or life-threatening illnesses. The Sense of Coherence Scale, the Spiritual Assessment Scale and the Suffering Assessment Questionnaire in Adults with Chronic Diseases or Life-Threatening Illness (SAQ) were applied to each participant and were later returned for analysis.

Results: An SAQ version with 12 items showed adequate psychometric characteristics of validity and internal consistency after being adapted to a four-dimensional structure that assesses the four dimensions of suffering.

Conclusion: The results of confirmatory analysis indicated a good model fit that suggested that the advocated theoretical model is plausible.