End-of-life matters in chronic heart failure patients

Unmet device reprogramming needs at the end of life among patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillator: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Use of implantable cardioverter defibrillators is increasingly common. As patients approach the end of life, it is appropriate to deactivate the shock function.

AIM

To assess the prevalence of implantable cardioverter defibrillator reprogramming to deactivate the shock function at the end of life and the prevalence of advance directives among this population.

DESIGN

Following a previously established protocol available in PROSPERO, we performed a narrative synthesis of our findings and used the logit transformation method to perform our quantitative synthesis.

DATA SOURCES

We searched seven bibliographic databases (Embase, Cochrane Central register of controlled Trials, Medline-Ovid, Web-of-Science, Scopus, PsychInfo, and CINAHL) and additional sources until April 2019.

RESULTS

Of the references we identified, 14 were included. We found a pooled prevalence of implantable cardioverter defibrillator reprogramming at the end of life of 28% (95% confidence interval, 22%-36%) with higher reprogramming rates after the recommendations for managing the device at the end of life were published. Among patients with advance directives, the pooled prevalence of advance directives that explicitly mentioned the device was 1% (95% confidence interval, 1%-3%).

CONCLUSIONS

The prevalence of implantable cardioverter defibrillator reprogramming and advance directives that explicitly mentioned the device was very low. Study data suggested reprogramming decisions were made very late, after the patient experienced multiple shocks. Patient suffering could be ameliorated if physicians and other healthcare professionals adhere to clinical guidelines for the good management of the device at the end of life and include deactivating the shock function in the discussion that leads to the advance directive.

Associations Between End-of-Life Expenditures and Hospice Stay Length Vary by Clinical Condition and Expenditure Duration

OBJECTIVES

Hospice use reduces costly aggressive end-of-life (EOL) care (eg, repeated hospitalizations, intensive care unit care, and emergency department visits). Nevertheless, associations between hospice stays and EOL expenditures in prior research have been inconsistent. We examined the differential associations between hospice stay duration and EOL expenditures among newly diagnosed patients with cancer, congestive heart failure (CHF), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and dementia.

METHODS

In the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare data, we identified 240 246 decedents diagnosed with the aforementioned conditions during 2001 to 2013. We used zero-inflated negative binomial regression models to examine the differential associations between hospice length of services and EOL expenditures incurred during the last 90, 180, and 360 days of life.

RESULTS

For the last 360 days of expenditures, hospice stays beyond 30 days were positively associated with expenditures for decedents with COPD, CHF, and dementia but were negatively associated for cancer decedents (all P<.001) after adjusting for demographic and medical covariates. In contrast, for the last 90 days of expenditures, hospice stay duration and expenditures were consistently negatively associated for each of the 4 patient disease groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Longer hospice stays were associated with lower 360-day expenditures for cancer patients but higher expenditures for other patients. We recommend that Medicare hospice payment reforms take distinct disease trajectories into account. The relationship between expenditures and hospice stay length also depended on the measurement duration, such that measuring expenditures for the last 6 months of life or less overstates the cost-saving benefit of lengthy hospice stays.

Culturally Adapting an Advance Care Planning Communication Intervention With American Indian and Alaska Native People in Primary Care

Introduction: Advance care planning (ACP) is a process in which patients, families, and providers discuss and plan for desired treatment goals. American Indian and Alaska Native people (AI/AN) have higher prevalence of many serious, life-limiting illnesses compared with the general population; yet AI/ANs use ACP considerably less than the overall population. Method: We conducted a qualitative study to culturally adapt an existing ACP intervention for AI/ANs in two primary care settings. Results: We found that it is important to incorporate patients' cultural values and priorities into ACP, determine who the patient wants involved in ACP conversations, and consider the culturally and locally relevant barriers and facilitators when developing an ACP intervention with AI/AN communities. Discussion: At the core, ACP interventions should be clear and understandable across populations and tailored to facilitate culturally appropriate and meaningful patient-provider communication. Our results and methodology of culturally adapting an intervention may be applicable to other underrepresented populations.

Needs of caregivers in heart failure management: A qualitative study

OBJECTIVES

To identify the needs of caregivers supporting a person with heart failure and to inform the development of a caregiver resource to be used as part of a home-based self-management programme.

METHODS

A qualitative study informed by thematic analysis involving 26 caregivers in individual interviews or a focus group.

RESULTS

Three distinct aspects of caregiver support in heart failure management were identified. Firstly, caregivers identified needs about supporting management of heart failure including: coping with the variability of heart failure symptoms, what to do in an emergency, understanding and managing medicines, providing emotional support, promoting exercise and physical activity, providing personal care, living with a cardiac device and supporting depression management. Secondly, as they make the transition to becoming a caregiver, they need to develop skills to undertake difficult discussions about the role; communicate with health professionals; manage their own mental health, well-being and sleep; and manage home and work. Thirdly, caregivers require skills to engage social support, and voluntary and formal services while recognising that the long-term future is uncertain.

DISCUSSION

The identification of the needs of caregiver has been used to inform the development of a home-based heart failure intervention facilitated by a trained health care practitioner.

Palliative Care in Heart Failure

The number of patients with heart failure is growing; the associated morbidity and mortality remains dismal. Advance care planning, end-of-life conversations, and palliative care referrals are appropriate, but do not occur regularly. Palliative care focuses on patients and families from diagnosis, to hospice, death, and bereavement. It is delivered as basic palliative care by all providers and by specialty-certified palliative care specialists. Nurses are well-positioned to provide basic. Nurses are also instrumental in initiating referrals to the specialized palliative care team as the patient's needs become too complex or the disease progresses and the patient approaches the end of life.

Cardio-Pulmonary-Renal Interactions: A Multidisciplinary Approach

Over the past decade, science has greatly advanced our understanding of interdependent feedback mechanisms involving the heart, lung, and kidney. Organ injury is the consequence of maladaptive neurohormonal activation, oxidative stress, abnormal immune cell signaling, and a host of other mechanisms that precipitate adverse functional and structural changes. The presentation of interorgan crosstalk may include an acute, chronic, or acute on chronic timeframe. We review the current, state-of-the-art understanding of cardio-pulmonary-renal interactions and their related pathophysiology, perpetuating nature, and cycles of increased susceptibility and reciprocal progression. To this end, we present a multidisciplinary approach to frame the diverse spectrum of published observations on the topic. Assessment of organ functional reserve and use of biomarkers are valuable clinical strategies to screen and detect disease, assist in diagnosis, assess prognosis, and predict recovery or progression to chronic disease.