Table 3.
Characteristics of physicians’ and patients’ symptom ratings and degree of rater agreement
| Symptom | No. of assessments (paired N) | Characteristics of ratings by physicians (HOPE-SP-CL) and patients (MIDOS/IPOS) | Rater agreement by symptom/problem | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Physicians n (%) presenta |
Patients n (%) presenta |
Percentage of actual agreementb | Kappa (ƙ) | Strength of agreementc | ||
| Pain | 355 | 234 (65.9) | 232 (65.4) | 54.7 | .438 | Moderate |
| Nausea | 348 | 106 (30.5) | 113 (32.5) | 73.9 | .394 | Fair |
| Vomiting | 346 | 63 (18.2) | 71 (20.5) | 78.1 | .297 | Fair |
| Dyspnea | 351 | 143 (40.7) | 141 (40.2) | 76.1 | .503 | Moderate |
| Constipation | 342 | 152 (44.4) | 151 (44.2) | 62.8 | .248 | Fair |
| Weakness | 351 | 330 (94.0) | 315 (89.7) | 84.3 | -.009 | Not significant |
| Appetite loss | 350 | 269 (76.9) | 236 (67.4) | 72.3 | .318 | Fair |
| Tiredness | 349 | 239 (68.5) | 264 (75.6) | 63.1 | .088 | Not significant |
| Anxietyd | 348 | 179 (51.4) | 142 (40.8) | 56.0 | .125 | Poor |
| Tensione | 338 | 231 (68.3) | 166 (49.1) | 54.7 | .101 | Poor |
| Sleeping problemsf | 346 | 132 (38.2) | 194 (56.1) | 59.0 | .202 | Poor |
HOPE-SP-CL, Symptom and Problem Checklist of the German Hospice and Palliative Care Evaluation
MIDOS, New version of the minimal documentation system for patients in palliative care
IPOS, Integrated Palliative Care Outcome Scale
adichotomized symptoms: “not present”= no/mild (HOPE-SP-CL) or none/little (MIDOS/IPOS); “present”= moderate/severe (HOPE-SP-CL) or moderate/severe/overwhelming (MIDOS/IPOS)
bPercentage of ratings matched (both ratings either yes or no)
cAs per Landis and Koch 1977
dstudy-specific item added to IPOS
estudy-specific item added to MIDOS and IPOS
fstudy-specific item added to MIDOS, IPOS and HOPE-SP-CL