Measuring impacts of value to patients is crucial when evaluating palliative care

Abstract

The inclusion of preparation for death and managing affairs in the end-of-life instrument designed by Borreani et al.1 to elicit preferences about dying is commendable. Of note, few quality-of-life (QOL) measurement tools contain or adequately assess this patient-valued domain. Given the importance that patients place on these issues, it is possible that evaluations of palliative health care interventions, including comparative effectiveness and cost-effectiveness analyses, could easily misinterpret the net benefit of such interventions without inclusion of this domain as an outcome measure. Better assessment methods that incorporate preparation for death and managing affairs are needed.