The Life Closure Scale, or LCS, is an instrument developed for assessing psychological symptoms that occur during the dying process. The LCS focuses on two subscales – self-reconciled and self-reconstructing. Overall, the purpose for the instrument is to describe pain in terminal care groups and the cause for that pain.
The LCS test includes 45-items using a 5-point Likert scale responses.
Author: Marjorie Dobratz
Validity and Reliability
Based on independent studies, the content validity in LCS was calculated to be 0.83. The instrument had a 0.85 (self-reconciled) and 0.86 (self-reconstructing) internal consistency rating (alpha coefficient); in addition, it had a 0.75 correlation rating with the measure of quality of life and -.60 with other depression tools.
Obtaining the LCS
http://www4.infotrieve.com/search/databases/AFResults.asp?SR=1&QR=life%20closure%20scale
References
Curtis, J. R., Patrick, D. L., Engelberg, R. A., Norris, K., Asp, C., & Byock, I. (2002). A measure of the quality of dying and death: Initial validation using after-death interviews with family members. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 24(1),17-31.
Dobratz, M. (1990). The Life Closure Scale: A measure of psychological adaptation in death and dying. Hospice Journal 6(3): 1-15.
Lohr, K. N., Aaronson, N. K., Alonso, J., Burnam, M. A., Patrick, D. L., Perrin, E. B., et al. (1996). Evaluating quality-of-life and health status instruments: Development of scientific review criteria. Clinical Therapeutics 18(5):979-92.
McMillan, S. C., & Weitzner, M. (1998). Quality of life in cancer patients: Use of a revised Hospice Index. Cancer Practice 6(5):282-8.
