Measuring perceived, wished and actual knowledge of healthcare providers about pediatric palliative care: development and validation of an online questionnaire in Italy

Abstract Background. There is a lack of validated tools to evaluate the healthcare professionals’ competences on Pediatric Palliative Care (PPC) and Pain Therapy (PT). The aim of this study is to document the development and validation of a questionnaire to assess perceived, wished and actual knowledge of healthcare workers on PPC/PT. Methods. On the basis of the Italian Society for Palliative Care PPC Core Curriculum (CC) for physicians, nurses and psychologists, an online questionnaire was developed in four sequential steps. Construct validity, coherence of the instrument, and educational needs of participants were assessed after a field testing in a referral hospital, Northeast Italy. Results. One-hundred-five respondents completed the online questionnaire, from January 1st to July 31th 2019. Findings showed high internal consistency for both scales of perceived and wished knowledge (⍺=0.95 and ⍺=0.94, respectively). Psychologists reported higher levels of self-perceived skills on psychosocial needs of child and family at the end of life (p=0.006), mourning (p=0.003) and ethics and deontology in PT/PC (p=0.049). No differences were found by profession in terms of wished knowledge. Regarding actual knowledge assessment psychologists provided the bigger number of correct answers (p=0.022). Conclusions. The questionnaire showed promising psychometric properties as a multidisciplinary instrument to measure health professionals’ knowledge on PPC/PT. Our findings suggest a need of continuous training in this topic and present possible content to be addressed by decision makers when organizing future training programs and/or educational events.