The Palliative Outcome Scale (POS) applied to clinical practice and research: an integrative review

OBJECTIVE: to identify and evaluate the evidence found in the international scientific literature on the application of the Palliative Outcome Scale (POS) in clinical practice and research in Palliative Care (PC). METHOD: integrative literature review, through the search of publications in journals indexed in PubMed / MEDLINE, LILACS, SciELO and CINAHL databases, between the years 1999 and 2014. RESULTS: the final sample consisted of 11 articles. In the data analysis, the articles were classified into 2 units of analysis (studies using the POS as a resource in research and studies using the POS in clinical practice), in which the information was presented in the form of sub-themes related to publications of the selected studies, highlighting the synthesis of the results. CONCLUSION: POS emerged as an important tool for measuring outcomes to assess the quality of life of patients and families, of the quality of care provided and the PC service organization. The international scientific literature on the application of POS proved to be relevant to the advancement and consolidation of the field of knowledge related to PC.