RESUMO
The number of children eligible for Paediatric Palliative Care has dramatically increased over the years, with few tools that can help with early identification. The Paediatric Palliative Screening Scale is a dedicated German, English, and Portuguese screening tool. We aimed to translate and perform a cultural adaptation to the Italian setting of the Paediatric Palliative Screening Scale. This paper was a descriptive observational cross-sectional study. We carried it out in two consecutive steps: (1) translation and back translation and (2) cultural adaptation through a Delphi process. Twenty Paediatric Palliative Care national experts were invited to judge the content and structure of the translated scale and to assess the appropriateness and clarity of each question. Consensus was defined as 70% or more of experts agreeing with each item's appropriateness and clarity. The Italian version of the Paediatric Palliative Screening Scale was obtained after two rounds of Delphi. After the second round of consultation, a substantial increase in experts' consensus was found, especially for questions 1.1, 3.2 and 3.3 (from 56.3 to 93.8%), and reaching more than 83% for all the revised items. CONCLUSIONS: The Paediatric Palliative Screening Scale is a reliable tool that can assist in timely evaluating children who qualify for Paediatric Palliative Care. The tool can be used in Italian healthcare settings with its cultural adaptation. WHAT IS KNOWN: ⢠Despite the lack of early diagnosis techniques, there is a significant increase in the number of children entitled to Paediatric Palliative Care. ⢠A specific screening tool called the Paediatric Palliative Screening Scale determines a child's suitability for paediatric palliative treatment. WHAT IS NEW: ⢠The Paediatric Palliative Screening Scale is necessary to assess the psychosocial needs of patients eligible for Paediatric Palliative Care. The Italian scale has good content and face validity ensuring equivalence between the original and target populations.