Palliative care Outcome Scale Banner
Home » How to use » How to score  You are not logged in. Login or Register
 
 
 
 

How to Score POS version1 and version 2

POS results can be used to calculate individual item scores and an overall profile score.
 
The overall profile score is useful in understanding the overall experience and status of the patient and their needs and strengths at a specific point in time. The overall profile score is the sum of the scores from each of the 10 questions. The overall profile score can therefore range from zero to 40.
 
Individual item scores are useful when tracking particular dimensions, for example pain or spiritual need. POS has 10 items which assess the following dimensions: physical, emotional, psychological, spiritual and provision of information and support. As illustrated in question one, below, five response options are provided for each of these dimensions. Only one response is allowed for each question. In this example the patient scored four for question one.
 

      Question 1: Over the past 3 days, have you been affected by pain?

                0      Not at all, no effect

                1      Slightly - but not bothered to be rid of it

                2      Moderately - pain limits some activity

                3      Severely - activities or concentration markedly affected

                4      Overwhelmingly - unable to think of anything else

 
Question 11 allows the user to report what their main problems have been over the last three days. Although, this question isn’t scored, if additional problems are identified when this question is used, the problem identified can be scored using the response options from POS after the questionnaire has been completed.
 
Question 12 records information about how the scores were determined. The score from this question isn’t added to the overall profile score.
 
Guidance on the process of outcome measurement scoring is available.
 
  POS supporters and collaborators
 
Buildcare logo
 
Cicely Saunders International logo
 
Cicely Saunders International logo
 
King's College London logo
 
King's Health Partners logo
 
OACC logo
 
 
« How to administer © 2012 Cicely Saunders Institute    Terms and conditions    Site map    Contact How to interpret »