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Binda F, Clari M, Nicolò G, Gambazza S, Sappa B, Bosco P, Laquintana D. Quality of dying in hospital general wards: a cross-sectional study about the end-of-life care. BMC Palliat Care 2021; 20:153. [PMID: 34641824 PMCID: PMC8507336 DOI: 10.1186/s12904-021-00862-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2021] [Accepted: 09/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Background In the last decade, access to national palliative care programs have improved, however a large proportion of patients continued to die in hospital, particularly within internal medicine wards. Objectives To describe treatments, symptoms and clinical management of adult patients at the end of their life and explore whether these differ according to expectation of death. Methods Single-centre cross-sectional study performed in the medical and surgical wards of a large tertiary-level university teaching hospital in the north of Italy. Data on nursing interventions and diagnostic procedure in proximity of death were collected after interviewing the nurse and the physician responsible for the patient. Relationship between nursing treatments delivered and patients’ characteristics, quality of dying and nurses’ expectation about death was summarized by means of multiple correspondence analysis (MCA). Results Few treatments were found statistically associated with expectation of death in the 187 patients included. In the last 48 h, routine (70.6%) and biomarkers (41.7%) blood tests were performed, at higher extent on patients whose death was not expected. Many symptoms classified as severe were reported when death was highly expected, except for agitation and respiratory fatigue which were reported when death was moderately expected. A high Norton score and absence of anti-bedsore mattress were associated with unexpected death and poor quality of dying, as summarized by MCA. Quality of dying was perceived as good by nurses when death was moderately and highly expected. Physicians rated more frequently than nurses the quality of dying as good or very good, respectively 78.6 and 57.8%, denoting a fair agreement between the two professionals (k = 0.24, P < 0.001). The palliative care consultant was requested for only two patients. Conclusion Staff in medical and surgical wards still deal inadequately with the needs of dying people. Presence of hospital-based specialist palliative care could lead to improvements in the patients’ quality of life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Filippo Binda
- Department of Healthcare Professions, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Via Francesco Sforza, 35, 20122, Milan, Italy.
| | - Marco Clari
- Department of Public Health and Paediatrics - University of Torino, Via Santena, 5, 10126, Torino, Italy
| | - Gabriella Nicolò
- Department of Healthcare Professions, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Via Francesco Sforza, 35, 20122, Milan, Italy
| | - Simone Gambazza
- Department of Healthcare Professions, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Via Francesco Sforza, 35, 20122, Milan, Italy
| | - Barbara Sappa
- Department of Healthcare Professions (General Internal Medicine Unit), Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Via Francesco Sforza, 35, 20122, Milan, Italy
| | - Paola Bosco
- Department of Healthcare Professions (High-dependency Unit), Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Via Francesco Sforza, 35, 20122, Milan, Italy
| | - Dario Laquintana
- Department of Healthcare Professions, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Via Francesco Sforza, 35, 20122, Milan, Italy
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Janah A, Rey D, Bouhnik AD, Mancini J, Sarradon-Eck A, Verger P, Peretti-Watel P, Bendiane MK. Opioid Analgesics Prescription to End-of-Life Cancer Patients: Characteristics, Attitudes, and Practices of French General Practitioners. J Palliat Med 2018; 21:1741-1748. [PMID: 30183469 DOI: 10.1089/jpm.2018.0222] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: Pain management, especially at the end of life, varies depending on the prescriber's characteristics and attitudes. Little is known about the practices of general practitioners (GPs) regarding end-of-life management for patients with cancer. Objectives: To provide an overview of the characteristics associated with GPs' attitudes and practices regarding opioids prescribing and to explore GPs' perceived role and difficulties in managing end-of-life care for patients with cancer. Design: A cross-sectional study (December 2015 to March 2016). Subjects and Analyses: Data were collected from a representative sample of 376 GPs in southeastern France recruited to participate in a survey on medical practices and opinions regarding cancer patient management. Descriptive analyses and multivariate logistic regressions were conducted to study the characteristics, attitudes, and practices associated with GPs' opioids prescribing attitudes. Results: Almost 97% of GPs stated that they prescribe opioids to end-of-life cancer patients. Among these, 77% said that they prescribe opioids on their own initiative, while 23% declared doing so in coordination with a specialist team. Female GPs, GPs working in solo practices, and GPs reporting more difficulties in managing end-of-life cancer patients were significantly less likely to prescribe opioids on their own initiative. Conclusion: Our results suggest that GPs' characteristics and practices influence the prescribing attitudes at the end of life. Given the dearth of studies on this topic, further research is recommended to better understand the impact of GPs' characteristics on their prescriptive attitudes. The possible interactions between patients' and physicians' characteristics-in particular gender-should also be investigated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Asmaa Janah
- Aix Marseille Univ, INSERM, IRD, Economics and Social Sciences Applied to Health & Analysis of Medical Information (SESSTIM), Marseille, France
| | - Dominique Rey
- ORS PACA, Southeastern Health Regional Observatory, Marseille, France
| | - Anne-Déborah Bouhnik
- Aix Marseille Univ, INSERM, IRD, Economics and Social Sciences Applied to Health & Analysis of Medical Information (SESSTIM), Marseille, France
| | - Julien Mancini
- Aix Marseille Univ, INSERM, IRD, Economics and Social Sciences Applied to Health & Analysis of Medical Information (SESSTIM), Marseille, France.,BiosTIC, La Timone Hospital, APHM, Marseille, France
| | - Aline Sarradon-Eck
- Aix Marseille Univ, INSERM, IRD, Economics and Social Sciences Applied to Health & Analysis of Medical Information (SESSTIM), Marseille, France.,Inst Paoli Calmettes, SESSTIM, Marseille, France
| | - Pierre Verger
- ORS PACA, Southeastern Health Regional Observatory, Marseille, France.,Aix Marseille Univ, IRD, AP-HM, SSA, VITROME, IHU-Méditerranée Infection, Marseille, France
| | - Patrick Peretti-Watel
- ORS PACA, Southeastern Health Regional Observatory, Marseille, France.,Aix Marseille Univ, IRD, AP-HM, SSA, VITROME, IHU-Méditerranée Infection, Marseille, France
| | - Marc-Karim Bendiane
- Aix Marseille Univ, INSERM, IRD, Economics and Social Sciences Applied to Health & Analysis of Medical Information (SESSTIM), Marseille, France.,ORS PACA, Southeastern Health Regional Observatory, Marseille, France
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