Proportion of People With Life-Limiting Illnesses Who Experienced Improved or Maintained Low Levels of Physical Discomfort After Intervention

Identifying Attributes

Care Settings
Palliative Care
Country
Australia
Publishing Organisation
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare National Palliative Care Measures
Type of Quality Indicator
Outcome
IOM Quality Dimension
Effectiveness
Domain
Physical Aspects of Care

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
No
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
Standardised clinical data
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
6 monthly
Frequency of Data Collection in Days
182
Reporting Methods

Public reporting.

Reporting Frequency
Reporting Frequency in Days
Indicator Has Recommended Targets
No

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.

Quality Indicator Confirmed to be Part of a Program Used to Monitor Quality and Safety of Care Among Older People at a Population-Level between 2012-2022
Yes
Assessed by the Australian Consortium for Aged Care Collaborators as Generally Containing Good Properties (Importance and Scientific Acceptability)
Yes
Australian Consortium for Aged Care Endorsed
No
Identified by PHARMA-Care Project
No
Upload Date
12 March 2025