The Unfinished Business Scale for Families: A Measure for Evaluating the Unfinished Business of Bereaved Family Members of Terminally Ill Patients with Cancer in Japan.

Abstract

Objectives: Although unfinished business is associated with psychological states in bereaved families of patients with cancer, no evaluation tools have been developed for such families in Japan. This study aimed to develop and examine the validity and reliability of an evaluation tool for unfinished business among families of terminally ill patients with cancer in Japan.

Methods: In August 2020, a cross-sectional online survey consisting of the Unfinished Business Scale for Families, Unfinished Business in Bereavement Scale (UBBS), Brief Grief Questionnaire (BGQ), and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) was conducted on bereaved families of patients with cancer, followed by a retest two weeks later.

Results: Responses from 206 bereaved families were analyzed using factor analysis. Three subscales (10 items) were identified: Talk, Action, and Message. The Unfinished Business Scale for Families had an overall Cronbach's α coefficient of 0.96, and the intraclass correlation coefficient in the test-retest examination was 0.74. The Unfinished Business Scale for Families was significantly moderately correlated with the UBBS (r = 0.46) and moderately correlated with the BGQ (r = 0.40) and PHQ-9 (r = 0.33). All p-values were <0.001.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the Unfinished Business Scale for Families is effective for evaluating unfinished business among families of terminally ill patients with cancer. In the future, it will be necessary to conduct bereaved family surveys using this scale to identify unfinished business among family members. This could lead to health care providers providing more appropriate and adequate care to families with unfinished business.