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NCT Number: NCT07554209

Perceptions of Key Domains of Home-Based Palliative Care Among Healthcare Professionals (MULTIPAL)

This observational cross-sectional study evaluates and compares healthcare professionals' perceptions of key domains of home-based palliative care. Using an anonymous online survey and multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) methods, the study explores perceived importance, strategic prioritization, and self-assessed performance across five core palliative care domains. The study is conducted across Hospital-at-Home units throughout the Valencian Community (Spain).

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Key information

Conditions

Home Care, Hospital-Based Decision Making Health Services Research Palliative Care

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Observational

Primary location

Hospital Universitari i Politècnic La Fe

Valencia, 46026, Spain

About this study

MULTIPAL is an observational, analytical, cross-sectional census survey designed to assess healthcare professionals' perceptions of home-based palliative care within Hospital-at-Home units. The study is grounded in international palliative care frameworks, including those promoted by the World Health Organization, which define palliative care as a multidimensional approach encompassing symptom control, psychosocial and spiritual care, communication, coordination, and professional well-being.

Differences in professional priorities may influence clinical decision-making, coordination, and care quality. Despite increasing attention to palliative care quality indicators, professionals' perspectives-particularly in home-based settings-remain underexplored.

The study applies complementary Multicriteria Decision Analysis methods (TOPSIS, PROMETHEE, Analytic Hierarchy Process) to evaluate and compare professional priorities across five predefined domains: symptom control; communication and shared decision-making; psychosocial and spiritual care; coordination and continuity of care; and support for healthcare professionals.

Initially conceived as a single-center study, MULTIPAL was expanded to all Hospital-at-Home units in the Valencian Community to enhance representativeness, external validity, and relevance for system-level quality improvement.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Healthcare professionals working in Hospital-at-Home units providing home-based palliative care within the Valencian Community.

Exclusion criteria

  • Healthcare professionals without direct clinical or care-related responsibilities (e.g., administrative or non-clinical support staff) within Hospital-at-Home units.

Treatment and study plan

Primary outcomes

  1. 1. Multicriteria prioritization of home-based palliative care domains (TOPSIS)

    Time frame: Baseline (single cross-sectional survey)

    Relative prioritization of five predefined domains of home-based palliative care based on healthcare professionals' perceived importance and performance (symptom control; communication and shared decision-making; psychosocial and spiritual care; coordination and continuity of care; and support for healthcare professionals) .

    Measure: TOPSIS closeness coefficient for each domain . Unit of Measure: Closeness coefficient (0-1). Measurement Tool / Method: Multicriteria Decision Analysis using the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS).

Secondary outcomes

  1. 2. Preference-based ranking of palliative care domains (PROMETHEE)

    Time frame: Baseline (single cross-sectional survey)

    Preference-based ranking of palliative care domains according to healthcare professionals' judgments: symptom control; communication and shared decision-making; psychosocial and spiritual care; coordination and continuity of care; and support for healthcare professionals.

    Measure: Net preference flow for each domain. Unit of Measure: Net preference flow score. Measurement Tool / Method: Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluations (PROMETHEE).

  2. 3. Hierarchical weighting and consistency of each domain importance (AHP)

    Time frame: Baseline (single cross-sectional survey)

    Assessment of relative importance and internal consistency of professional judgments for the following domains: symptom control; communication and shared decision-making; psychosocial and spiritual care; coordination and continuity of care; and support for healthcare professionals.

    Measure: Normalized priority weights and consistency ratio. Unit of Measure: Dimensionless. Measurement Tool / Method: Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). At survey completion.

  3. 4. Interprofessional consensus on domain prioritization

    Time frame: Baseline (single cross-sectional survey)

    Degree of agreement between professional groups regarding domain priorities. Measure: Absolute difference in ranking positions. Unit of Measure: Rank difference. Measurement Tool / Method: Comparison of TOPSIS-derived rankings between groups.

    At survey completion.

  4. 5. Importance-performance gap in palliative care domains

    Time frame: Baseline (single cross-sectional survey)

    Difference between perceived importance and perceived performance for each domain.

    Measure: Importance-performance gap score. Unit of Measure: Likert-scale score difference. Measurement Tool / Method: Direct calculation from survey ratings.

  5. Variation in domain prioritization by professional and experiential factors

    Time frame: Baseline (single cross-sectional survey)

    Exploratory differences in priorities according to professional role, experience, age, and gender.

    Measure: Differences in MCDA-derived scores. Unit of Measure: Method-specific. Measurement Tool / Method: Subgroup analyses using TOPSIS, PROMETHEE, and AHP estimators.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Instituto de Investigacion Sanitaria La Fe

Other

Collaborators

  • Universitat Politècnica de València

Registry information

Official study title

Perceptions Among Healthcare Professionals of Key Domains of Home-Based Palliative Care: A Multicriteria Comparative Cross-Sectional Survey (MULTIPAL)

Acronym: MULTIPAL

Important dates

Study start
2026
Primary completion
2026
Study completion
2026
First posted
Apr 28, 2026
Registry last updated
Apr 28, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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