Evaluation of the palliative symptom burden score (PSBS) in a specialised palliative care unit of a university medical centre - a longitudinal study

Table 7 Reliability coefficients

Scale	Items	Internal consistency^b	Test-retest reliability^d Interval = one day^f	n	Test-retest reliability^d interval = one week^g	n
1. Psychosomatic symptom complex	4	.67	.88	741	.66	513
2. Gastrointestinal symptom complex	2	.67	.72	741	.37	514
3. Respiratory symptom complex	2	.41	.87	741	.67	513
4. Sweating^a	1	-	.79	739	.30	506
5. Pain^a	1	-	.55	736	.30	512
6. Itching^a	1	-	.81	741	.53	513
Sum score^e	11	.53	.83	741	.55	784

^aSingle item scales, no analyses of internal consistency performed
^bCronbach's alpha
^dr_s Spearman’s rank correlation; all p-values <.001
^eSplit-half-reliability: r_s = .69; p < .001
^fInterval of one-day time points: t7_1 (day 7, measure 1 (morning)) and t7_3 (day 7, measure 3 (evening))
^gInterval of one-week time points: t1_3 (day 1, measure 3 (evening)) and t7_3 (day 7, measure 3 (evening))

ISSN: 1472-684X