Proportion of People With Life-Limiting Illnesses Who Experienced Improved or Maintained Low Levels of Physical Discomfort After Intervention
Identifying Attributes
Care Settings
Country
Publishing Organisation
Type of Quality Indicator
IOM Quality Dimension
Domain
Defining Attributes
Definition
This measure is about ensuring that people with life-limiting illnesses receive effective care that minimises avoidable physical discomfort. Physical symptoms change across the illness trajectory, so this measure looks at improvements across palliative care phases. A palliative care phase is a clinically meaningful period in a patient's condition (stable, unstable, deteriorating, terminal). This measure uses patient-reported data to assess the level of patient distress related to pain. The desired outcome is that fewer people with life-limiting illnesses experience distress from pain, meaning the measure will increase. The computation is: (Numerator ÷ Denominator) x 100.
Numerator
Number of palliative care phases ending within the reference year with a valid Symptom Assessment Scale (SAS) for 'Distress from Pain' at phase start and end and for which SAS 'Distress from Pain' improved or remained absent/mild.
Denominator
Number of palliative care phases ending within the reference year with a valid Symptom Assessment Scale (SAS) for 'Distress from Pain' at phase start and end.
Exclusions
All phases without a valid start and end Symptom Assessment Scale (SAS) for 'Distress from Pain' were excluded. SAS assessments are not performed at death. Most terminal phases end in death. A small number of PCOC services do not collect SAS.
Use of Risk Adjustment
Risk Adjustments
Stratifications
Yes. Disaggregation by: Age group, Sex, Socioeconomic area, Remoteness area, Diagnosis, Setting, Phase type, Problem severity at phase start.
Data Attributes
Type of Data Collection
Data Collection Methods
The Palliative Care Outcomes Collaboration (PCOC) is the data source. PCOC is a national palliative care outcomes quality improvement program. The program uses standardised validated clinical assessment tools to benchmark and measure outcomes in palliative care, including pain and symptom control, and timely access to services when they are needed to drive quality improvements. The PCOC data collection includes patient demographics, clinical setting information, and patient outcomes collected via the 5 assessment tools: Palliative Care Phase Palliative Care Problem Severity Score (PCPSS); Symptom Assessment Scale (SAS); Australia-modified Karnofsky Performance Status (AKPS) Scale; Resource Utilisation Groups – Activities of Daily Living (RUG-ADL).
Frequency of Data Collection
Frequency of Data Collection in Days
Reporting Methods
Public reporting.
Reporting Frequency
Reporting Frequency in Days
Indicator Has Recommended Targets
Source and Reference Attributes
Evidence Source
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). Development of the National Palliative Care Measures. Canberra (AU): AIHW; 2024. Available from: www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/0ecbb5b1-4f83-4706-85ef-b0852318b7df/aihw-hse254-development-of-the-national-palliative-care-measures.pdf. Accessed 04 September 2024.