The Patient Dignity Inventory
The Patient Dignity Inventory (PDI) is designed to measure various sources of dignity-related distress among patients nearing the end of life. The 25-items of the PDI derive from a model of dignity in the terminally ill. See below to view the PDI.
How is the Patient Dignity Inventory administered?
The PDI is designed to give clinicians a broad overview or “snapshot” of how someone in their care is doing at any point in time.
Using a simple questionnaire, patients are asked to rate their current condition on the basis of 25 different indicators. Each question is based on empirical research into the most common factors influencing people’s personal sense of dignity.
For each factor, the person indicates his/her degree of concern on a five-point scale, with 1 representing “not a problem” and 5 representing “an overwhelming problem.”
The questionnaire is designed to be used by physicians, nurses, social workers, pastoral care providers – anyone attempting to evaluate how a person in their care is coping.
Research on the PDI.
The PDI has demonstrated the ability to help clinicians to deliver quality, dignity-conserving end-of-life care. More information can be found in the publication below:
1. The Patient Dignity Inventory: A novel way of measuring dignity related distress in Palliative Care.
Chochinov HM, Hassard T, McClement S, Hack T, Kristjanson L, Harlos M, Sinclair S, Murray A. (2008). The Patient Dignity Inventory: A novel way of measuring dignity related distress in Palliative Care. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. Dec. 36(6): 559 – 571.
https://www.jpsmjournal.com/article/S0885-3924(08)00250-9/pdf
2. The association between frailty and dignity in community-dwelling older people.
Moradoghli F, Darvishpoor Kakhki A, Esmaeili R. The association between frailty and dignity in community-dwelling older people. BMC Geriatr. 2022 Apr 19;22(1):344. doi: 10.1186/s12877-022-03056-w. PMID: 35440071; PMCID: PMC9019952.
