Development of the Stroke Patient Concerns Inventory

Abstract

INTRODUCTION
Long-term effects of stroke can result in various physical, psychological and social concerns or needs for patients. The number and diversity of concerns can make identification difficult for healthcare professionals in the limited clinic time available. A ‘Patient Concerns Inventory’ (PCI) has been developed to identify the concerns and needs of head and neck cancer patients. Patients complete the PCI prior to consultation; this then guides the consultation. The PCI has been shown to be effective in the outpatient setting. We are aiming to develop a stroke-specific PCI (SPCI).

METHOD
An expert panel of clinicians (stroke consultants, therapists, nurses, support workers), used a nominal group technique to generate a list of potential concerns for stroke survivors. The discussion was facilitated by presenting evidence from the literature on stroke survivors’ needs. The items on the list were then reviewed to remove or amalgamate similar items and further classify other, more broad, items. An initial draft SPCI was created.

RESULTS
Following the nominal group technique, 54 items relating to potential concerns of stroke survivors were generated. After discussion and refining, the final list consisted of 64 items, covering all domains within the original PCI.

CONCLUSION
An initial draft SPCI has been created, which is consistent with the original PCI framework. 64 items is still too many to incorporate into a pre-consultation inventory so further work will be conducted with patients and professions to refine the categories and items.