Evaluation of quality of life in a palliative care context: an integrative literature review

Practical Principles of Palliative Care in Veterinary Oncology: Alleviating the Suffering of the Animal, Owner, and Veterinarian

Background

Palliative care for pets is a developing area that encompasses animals with cancer and other chronic and degenerative diseases.

Objectives

To elucidate the guiding principles of palliative care in veterinary oncology.

Methods

This article was structured from an extensive literature review and addresses the growing need for improved palliative care in veterinary medicine. Methods of quality of life assessment in animals with cancer, owner education, and the importance of an interdisciplinary team approach are discussed.

Results

Palliative care aims to improve the animal's quality of life, alleviating its physical, emotional, and social suffering. Through attentive communication, palliative care also seeks to alleviate owners suffering from the moment of diagnosis to mourning the patient's death.

Conclusions

The importance of offering palliative care alongside anticancer techniques and treatments should not be underestimated and should ideally use a multidisciplinary team approach.

Non-pharmacological interventions in primary care to improve the quality of life of older patients with palliative care needs: a systematic review protocol

INTRODUCTION

In the last decades, the number of older people living with chronic diseases has rapidly increased. The prevalence of palliative care needs in this population can reach 17%, making the general practitioner a cornerstone in the identification and first medical intervention delivery. Therefore, knowing the primary care interventions that effectively improve the quality of life of these patients can play an important role in the delivery of healthcare.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

We will systematically review randomised controlled trials evaluating the effect of non-pharmacologic primary care interventions on the quality of life of older patients (≥65 years) with palliative care needs. PsycINFO, EMBASE, MEDLINE, Cochrane and CINAHL will be searched until December 2021. Screening, data extraction and quality evaluation (using the Cochrane RoB 2.0 tool) will be done by independently by two reviewers, with disagreements solved by a third reviewer. We will conduct meta-analysis if appropriate. In case of high heterogeneity, findings will be analysed by subgroup according to intervention type, main disease/symptoms and care context. Evidence will be graded using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach. We will perform a sensitivity analysis based on study quality. Publication bias will be assessed using funnel plots.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

Formal ethical approval is not required as primary data will not be collected. The results will be disseminated through a peer-reviewed publication, conference presentation and the press.

PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER

CRD42020154216.

Determination of the longitudinal sensitivity of the AVVQ-Brazil Quality of Life Questionnaire to non-surgical treatment of chronic venous disease

Background

Sensitivity determines the efficiency and quality of construction of an assessment measure, but studies of the subject are scarce in the literature.

Objective

To evaluate the longitudinal sensitivity of the AVVQ-Brazil to clinical changes after treatment for chronic venous disease (CVD).

Methods

A longitudinal intervention study, with 112 chronic venous patients receiving elective treatment, assessed with CEAP, VAPS, AVVQ-Brazil, and VEINES-QOL/Sym at pre-treatment (baseline) and post-treatment (4 weeks). Differences in the scores for the scales at different times were evaluated using Student’s t test for paired samples and Wilcoxon’s z, which were also used to asses individuals by CEAP grade and assessment time. Effect size, confidence intervals, and partial η² were used to determine the sensitivity of changes in scale scores over time. Correlations between changes in the scores of the same scales and between different scales were measured using Pearson coefficients, Spearman coefficients, and Kendall’s tau-b coefficient.

Results

The mean age of the patients was 59.51 years. The majority were female (82.1%), with standing for prolonged periods (49.1%), had completed secondary (22.3%) or higher (25%) education, and had CEAP C2 (28.6%) or C6 (32.1%) clinical severity. The following results were observed: mean scale scores reduced from baseline to post-treatment, except for the Extent of Varicosities domain of the AVVQ-Brazil and the VEINES-QOL/Sym scales; sensitivity was low for the AVVQ-Brazil and its domains and for the VAPS, and was from low to high for the other scales; there were improvements or maintenance of CEAP grade after treatment; and moderate to excellent correlations between changes in scale scores over time.

Conclusions

The AVVQ-Brazil is sensitive to longitudinal clinical changes after treatment for CVD and is an important measure for assessment of QoL and of disease severity in Brazil.

Evidências científicas sobre os fatores associados à qualidade de vida de pacientes com radiodermatite

Resumo OBJETIVO Analisar na literatura os fatores associados à qualidade de vida de pacientes com radiodermatite. MÉTODO Revisão integrativa da literatura realizada nas bases de dados MEDLINE, CINAHL, Web of Science e IBECS, entre 2007 e 2016. RESULTADOS Foram analisados 14 estudos, que atenderam aos critérios de inclusão estabelecidos, com predomínio de ensaios clínicos randomizados, nível de evidência II 1. Dentre os fatores que comprometeram a qualidade de vida destacaram-se a dor, prurido, alteração da imagem corporal e reações emocionais como sintomas de ansiedade e depressão. A laserterapia, o óleo de emu e a radioterapia modulada por intensidade representaram as intervenções que favoreceram a melhoria da qualidade de vida. CONCLUSÃO A radiodermatite acarreta prejuízos significativos na qualidade de vida dos pacientes oncológicos, sendo necessárias intervenções multiprofissionais e novos estudos voltados para prevenção e tratamento da lesão.

CUIDADOS PALIATIVOS AO IDOSO NA TERAPIA INTENSIVA: OLHAR DA EQUIPE DE ENFERMAGEM

RESUMO Objetivo: conhecer o significado de cuidados paliativos ao idoso para a equipe de enfermagem e identificar como ocorrem as interações da família com o idoso na unidade de terapia intensiva. Método: pesquisa descritiva, realizada unidade de terapia intensiva de hospital público em Fortaleza-Ceará-Brasil. Amostra composta por 58 profissionais da equipe de enfermagem. Fez-se a coleta de dados no segundo semestre de 2015 por meio de entrevista semiestruturada e gravada. Resultados: os resultados apontaram três categorias temáticas: cuidados paliativos, com destaque para alívioda dor e do sofrimento; interação familiar e pessoa idosa, sobressaindo comunicação como mais importante; e ambiente imprópriopara cuidados paliativos, com ênfase em orientação para o cuidado. Conclusão: conforme o estudo mostrou, a equipe tem conhecimento sobre cuidados paliativos e reconhece a família como elo entre profissional e idoso. Considera-se, ainda, que a terapia intensiva não é um ambiente apropriado para cuidados paliativos.

Interface between social support, quality of life and depression in users eligible for palliative care

OBJECTIVE

Analyzing the relationship between social support, quality of life and depression in patients eligible for palliative care at Primary Health Care of a municipality in the interior of Minas Gerais, Brazil.

METHOD

A correlational cross-sectional study carried out with patients treated in six primary health care units. Data were submitted to descriptive statistical analysis, tests for differences between averages and medians, and correlation tests. The significance level was 0.05.

RESULTS

The sample consisted of 115 participants, and it was identified that the higher the social support, the better the global quality of life (p<0.001) and functional quality of life (p=0.035); the greater the presence of physical symptoms, the lower the level of social support (p=0.012) and the higher the level of depression (p<0.001); the higher the symptoms of depression, the worse the global quality of life (p<0.001), functional quality of life (p<0.001) and the lower the levels of social support (p<0.001).

CONCLUSION

Levels of quality of life, social support and depression of patients eligible for palliative care are influenced by socioeconomic factors such as marital status, gender, age, income, education and presence of a caregiver.

OBJETIVO

Analisar a relação entre apoio social, qualidade de vida e depressão em pacientes elegíveis para cuidados paliativos atendidos na Atenção Primária à Saúde de um município no interior de Minas Gerais, Brasil.

MÉTODO

Estudo transversal correlacional, realizado com pacientes atendidos em seis unidades da atenção primária à saúde. Os dados foram submetidos à análise estatística descritiva, testes de diferenças entre médias e medianas e testes de correlação. O nível de significância adotado foi 0,05.

RESULTADOS

A amostra foi composta por 115 participantes, e identificou-se que quanto maior o apoio social, melhor é a qualidade de vida global (p<0,001) e funcional (p=0,035); quanto maior a presença de sintomas físicos, menor o nível de apoio social (p=0,012) e maior o nível de depressão (p<0,001); quanto maiores os sintomas de depressão, pior é a qualidade de vida global (p<0,001), funcional (p<0,001) e menores os níveis de apoio social (p<0,001).

CONCLUSÃO

Os níveis de qualidade de vida, apoio social e depressão de pacientes elegíveis para cuidados paliativos são influenciados por fatores socioeconômicos, tais como estado conjugal, sexo, idade, renda, escolaridade e presença de cuidador.

OBJETIVO

Analizar la relación entre apoyo social, calidad de vida y depresión en pacientes elegibles para cuidados paliativos atendidos en la Atención Primaria a la Salud de un municipio en el interior de Minas Gerais, Brasil.

MÉTODO

Estudio transversal correlacional, realizado con pacientes atendidos en seis unidades de atención primaria a la salud. Los datos fueron sometidos al análisis estadístico descriptivo, pruebas de diferencias entre medias y medianas y pruebas de correlación. El nivel de significancia adoptado fue 0,05.

RESULTADOS

La muestra fue compuesta por 115 participantes, y se identificó que cuanto mayor el apoyo social, mejor es la calidad de vida global (p <0,001) y funcional (p = 0,035); cuanto mayor sea la presencia de síntomas físicos, menor el nivel de apoyo social (p = 0,012) y mayor el nivel de depresión (p <0,001); cuanto mayores los síntomas de depresión, peor es la calidad de vida global (p <0,001), funcional (p <0,001) y menores los niveles de apoyo social (p <0,001).

CONCLUSIÓN

Los niveles de calidad de vida, apoyo social y depresión de pacientes elegibles para cuidados paliativos son influenciados por factores socioeconómicos, tales como estado conyugal, sexo, edad, renta, escolaridad y presencia de cuidador.

Assessment of knowledge in palliative care of physical therapists students at a university hospital in Brazil

BACKGROUND

In Brazil there are several challenges to reach a humanized health care. Among them is the well-known lack in academic education and training in palliative care field. This lack is mostly due to the modern medical care culture that prioritize curative medicine ahead of palliative care. As the goal of saving lives is rooted in medical training, death is still confronted as the main enemy of the health professionals.

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the knowledge of palliative care among the physical therapists of a University Hospital.

METHOD

This is a cross-sectional and descriptive study. The volunteers were physical therapists, who had worked in the hospital for more than six months, were included undergraduate students, experienced professionals and graduate students. A questionnaire with closed questions about palliative care was applied during the volunteers working hours. Data were analyzed descriptively.

CONCLUSION

We conclude that, the vast majority of the evaluated professionals presented basic palliative care knowledge, but not in palliative care core components. The palliative care practice seemed often guided by the knowledge acquired in other fields, always with an intuitive character. Therefore, we detected a lack in the physical therapist training regarding palliative care. Summarily, physical therapists should receive a general training in palliative care still as an undergraduate, for a more effective and consistent professional practice later on.

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.

Cuidados paliativos e espiritualidade: revisao integrativa da literatura

RESUMO Objetivo: analisar artigos científicos disseminados em periódicos online no cenário internacional acerca da temática cuidados paliativos e espiritualidade. Métodos: revisão integrativa da literatura, com coleta de dados no mês de setembro de 2014, nas bases de dados LILACS, SCIELO, MEDLINE/PubMed, IBECS. Resultados: foram identificadas 39 publicações, cujas analises textuais permitiram a construção de quatro abordagens temáticas: significado da espiritualidade no contexto dos cuidados paliativos; cuidados paliativos e assistência espiritual; espiritualidade e alivio da dor e de outros sintomas que acometem pacientes sob cuidados paliativos; e instrumentos de avaliação da dimensão espiritual no âmbito dos cuidados paliativos. Conclusão: estudo verificou a relevância da dimensão espiritual durante a assistência de pacientes assistidos por meio de cuidados paliativos e a necessidade do desenvolvimento de novos estudos para disseminar conhecimento sobre o tema.