BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care最新文献

Background: The Surprise Question, 'Would you be surprised if this person died within the next year?' is a simple tool that can be used by clinicians to identify people within the last year of life. This review aimed to determine the accuracy of this assessment, across different healthcare settings, specialties, follow-up periods and respondents.

Methods: Searches were conducted of Medline, Embase, AMED, PubMed and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, from inception until 01 January 2024. Studies were included if they reported original data on the ability of the Surprise Question to predict survival. For each study (including subgroups), sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values and accuracy were determined.

Results: Our dataset comprised 56 distinct cohorts, including 68 829 patients. In a pooled analysis, the sensitivity of the Surprise Question was 0.69 ((0.64 to 0.74) I²=97.2%), specificity 0.69 ((0.63 to 0.74) I²=99.7%), positive predictive value 0.40 ((0.35 to 0.45) I²=99.4%), negative predictive value 0.89 ((0.87 to 0.91) I²=99.7%) and accuracy 0.71 ((0.68 to 0.75) I²=99.3%). The prompt performed best in populations with high event rates, shorter timeframes and when posed to more experienced respondents.

Conclusions: The Surprise Question demonstrated modest accuracy with considerable heterogeneity across the population to which it was applied and to whom it was posed. Prospective studies should test whether the prompt can facilitate timely access to palliative care services, as originally envisioned.

Prospero registration number: CRD32022298236.

Objectives: Despite rapid expansion of treatments for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) and the importance of symptom management for enhancing quality of life, few studies have focused on men's experiences of symptom burden over time when receiving one or more lines of treatment in a real-world situation in this phase. The aim was to investigate changes in the multidimensional symptom burden during the first year of life-prolonging treatment of mCRPC.

Methods: Longitudinal data from the first year of life-prolonging treatment for 134 men with mCRPC were used. Symptoms were measured with the multidimensional Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale. Data are presented with descriptive statistics, and changes in symptom burden (physical, psychological and number of symptoms) were analysed using linear mixed modelling.

Results: On average, the men had approximately 10 (0-31) symptoms at inclusion and 12 (0-33) at the last time point. Lack of energy and sweats were the two most reported symptoms at every time point. Sexual problems had the highest scores in all dimensions (frequency, severity, distress). Regarding pain, the distress score was higher than the scores for frequency and severity at t1-t4. Physical symptom burden and the number of symptoms changed significantly over time, towards a higher symptom burden. Psychological symptom burden did not change significantly over time.

Conclusion: The different dimensions of physical symptoms in men treated for mCRPC need to be more acknowledged. Early integration of a palliative care approach could possibly help in enhancing symptom management and quality of life for these men.

Objective: To determine if anaemia and blood transfusions in the perioperative, chemotherapy and radiation treatment periods are associated with overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) in high-grade endometrial cancer.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study examined patients at a single centre treated for high-grade endometrial cancer (2010-2023). This included International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) grade 3 endometrioid, serous, carcinosarcoma, mixed, clear cell, mucinous, dedifferentiated and undifferentiated histology. Primary outcomes were OS and RFS. Predictor variables were nadir haemoglobin and transfusion status. Multivariable Cox regression models for OS and RFS analysed the associations of treatment period-specific anaemia, overall transfusion status and confounder variables.

Results: Two hundred twenty-seven cases were included; 64-86% of patients were anaemic during any treatment, with 0-10% having severe anaemia. Twenty-two patients (9.7%) had at least one blood transfusion. Transfusion in the perioperative and chemotherapy periods was associated with poorer survival, significant only for shorter RFS in the chemotherapy cohort (HR 3.22, p=0.04). There was no association between anaemia and survival.

Conclusion: This study is among the first to assess anaemia in treated patients with high-grade endometrial cancer and the associations of anaemia and blood transfusion with survival outcomes. Further larger studies are needed to strengthen evidence and guide transfusion policies.

Background: Spiritual pain and distress are commonly unrecognised among patients receiving palliative care, yet engaging with a person's spirituality can allow healing to occur even amid suffering. Palliative care clinicians lack training in assessing and managing spiritual distress among patients.

Objectives: Development of a virtually delivered spirituality workshop to improve clinicians' understanding of their own spirituality and confidence in addressing the spiritual dimension of patients' experience.

Method: 32 palliative care clinicians across Australia and New Zealand attended four 1.5-hour sessions across consecutive weeks, with additional pre-session and post-session written and audiovisual content. Participants completed a pre-post evaluation survey, rating their confidence in knowledge and skills relating to the provision of spiritual care.

Results: All participants completed at least three of the four workshop sessions, and 19 responded to the pre-post evaluation survey. Confidence ratings across all skills significantly improved following the workshop. Most participants reported improved confidence in taking a spiritual history, assessing patients for spiritual issues and managing patients experiencing spiritual pain. All reported that they would recommend the workshop to a colleague, and most (11/19) felt virtual delivery of the workshop was appropriate for the content and activities.

Conclusions: Spirituality training can be safely and effectively delivered through a virtual workshop for palliative care clinicians. The training was highly valued and deepened participants' understanding of their own spirituality. Further exploration of how virtual and face-to-face learning can be combined may identify a flexible and engaging experience for learners.

Background: Ariadne Labs' Serious Illness Care Program (SICP), inclusive of the Serious Illness Conversation Guide (SICG), has been adapted for use in a variety of settings and among diverse population groups. Explicating the core elements of serious illness conversations could support the inclusion or exclusion of certain components in future iterations of the programme and the guide.

Aim: This integrative systematic review aimed to identify and describe core elements of serious illness conversations in relation to the SICP and/or SICG.

Design: Literature published between 1 January 2014 and 20 March 2023 was searched in MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL and PubMed. All articles were evaluated using the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Guidelines. Data were analysed with thematic synthesis.

Results: A total of 64 articles met the inclusion criteria. Three themes were revealed: (1) serious illness conversations serve different functions that are reflected in how they are conveyed; (2) serious illness conversations endeavour to discover what matters to patients and (3) serious illness conversations seek to align what patients want in their life and care.

Conclusions: Core elements of serious illness conversations included explicating the intention, framing, expectations and directions for the conversation. This encompassed discussing current and possible trajectories with a view towards uncovering matters of importance to the patient as a person. Preferences and priorities could be used to inform future preparation and recommendations. Serious illness conversation elements could be adapted and altered depending on the intended purpose of the conversation.

Objective: Antitumour treatment in the last 2 weeks of death (ATT-W2) and a new regimen of ATT within 30 days of death (NATT-M1) are considered as aggressive end-of-life (EOL) care. We aimed to assess factors associated with inappropriate use of antitumour treatment (ATT) at EOL.

Methods: Data of patients with cancer who died in 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019 in a single for-profit cancer centre were retrospectively analysed. ATT was divided into chemotherapy (CT), oral targeted therapy (OTT), hormonotherapy and immunotherapy (IMT).

Results: A total of 1282 patients were included. NATT-M1 was given to 197 (15.37%) patients, and 167 (13.03%) had an ATT-W2. Patients with a performance status of <2 and treated with CT had more both ATT- W2 (OR=2.45, 95% CI 1.65 to 3.65, and OR=10.29, 95% CI 4.70 to 22.6, respectively) and NATT-M1 (OR=2.01, 95% CI 1.40 to 2.90, and OR=8.41, 95% CI 4.46 to 15.86). Predictive factors of a higher rate of ATT-W2 were treatment with OTT (OR=19.08, 95% CI 7.12 to 51.07), follow-up by a medical oncologist (OR=1.49, 95% CI 1.03 to 2.17), miscellaneous cancer (OR=3.50, 95% CI 1.13 to 10.85) and length of hospital stay before death of <13 days (OR=1.92, 95% CI 1.32 to 2.79). Urinary tract and male genital cancers received less ATT-W2 (OR=0.38, 95% CI 0.16 to 0.89, and OR=0.40, 95% CI 0.16 to 0.99) and patients treated by IMT or with age <69 years more NATT-M1 (OR=19.21, 95% CI 7.55 to 48.8, and OR=1.69, 95% CI 1.20 to 2.37). Patients followed up by the palliative care team (PCT) had fewer ATT-W2 and NATT-M1 (OR=0.49, 95% CI 0.35 to 0.71, and OR=0.42, 95% CI 0.30 to 0.58).

Conclusions: Most recent ATT and access to a PCT follow-up are the two most important potentially modifiable factors associated with aggressive EOL in patients with cancer. Early integrated palliative oncology care could help to decrease futile ATT at EOL.

Advanced cirrhosis confers a significant symptom burden and has a 50% 2-year mortality rate in those with decompensated disease. There is increasing demand for supportive and palliative care (SAPC) for these patients, yet no consensus on the best model of delivery. It is necessary to identify the needs of such patients and their carers, and evaluate whether they are being met.A literature search was conducted using key words pertaining to adult patients with liver cirrhosis and their SAPC needs. Study quality was assessed and findings grouped by theme. 51 full texts were selected for inclusion, 8 qualitative studies, 33 quantitative studies, 7 systematic reviews, 2 mixed methods studies and 1 Delphi methods. Key findings were grouped into three main themes: SAPC needs, access to SAPC and models of care.Patients with cirrhosis have significant psychological and physical symptom burden with many unmet needs. These data failed to identify the best service model of care. The impact of specialist palliative care (SPC) referral was limited by small numbers and late referrals. With the majority of studies conducted in the USA, it is unclear how well these findings translate to other healthcare systems. Comparison between hepatology led services and SPC was limited by inconsistent outcome measures and prevented pooling of data sets. These data also had limited evaluation of patient-reported outcome measures. We propose the development of a core outcome set to ensure consistent and meaningful evaluation of the SAPC needs of patients with advanced non-malignant liver cirrhosis.

Objectives: This study reports on a yearlong sequence of three periodic, virtual trainings in primary palliative care for healthcare professionals across Nigeria. Our overall objective was to determine the impact of the full course on participants' attitudes, knowledge, skills and plans to implement and deliver palliative care in their local contexts.

Methods: The curriculum for this programme was codeveloped by a team of USA and Nigerian palliative care professionals and delivered via three 3-day virtual sessions. Daily surveys, knowledge tests and end-of-training surveys were administered to participants electronically. Demographics, knowledge scores, confidence levels and self-reported achievement were analysed using descriptive statistics.

Results: Pretraining and post-training knowledge scores showed significant improvement with average gains of 10.3 percentage points in training 1 (p<0.001) to 11.7 percentage points in training 2 (p=0.01). More than three-quarters of participants improved their test scores. Most participants (89.4%-100%) agreed that they had achieved the daily learning objectives across all trainings. Nearly 100% of participants reported that they felt more empowered as healthcare workers, more confident in their decision-making and more comfortable communicating with patients and other healthcare workers about palliative care.

Conclusions: Healthcare workers in Nigeria demonstrated increased knowledge and confidence in providing palliative care as a result of an adapted virtual training programme. Further research is needed to (1) demonstrate feasibility for online trainings in similar resource-limited settings and (2) evaluate impact on patient-centred outcomes.

Background: There are high rates registered globally of breast cancer, cervical and prostate. People going through have needs that cause an impact in their life's quality, especially in the final stages of the illness.

Goal: To characterise the most evaluated and afflicted physical, emotional, roll, cognitive, social and spiritual needs of patients in the final stages of breast, cervical and prostate cancer.

Interventions/methods: A thorough systematic search of databases such as Medline (Ovid) and Embase, from databases' creation throughout 31 December 2021. Quantitative studies were included to evaluate, from the adoption of tools, the dimensions or needs of people going under three types of cancer on final stages.

Results: Twelve studies were included. More common symptoms such as nausea/vomiting and pain were the most evaluated with 83%. Fifty-eight per cent of papers studied the emotional function of people with breast and prostate cancer. Other 42% included roll, cognitive and social appreciations. Sexual, cognitive and physical, in that line, were the most affected. The most common questionnaires used to measure oncological patients on final stages were those from European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer on its C-30, BR-23, C-15 PAL and CR-25 versions.

Conclusions: On breast and prostate cancer, the most affected aspect was the sexual dysfunction, while for cervical cancer, the physical function was the most altered one. Spiritual dimension was not included in any of the evaluated literature.

Objectives: This study explores the relationship between end-of-life care costs and place of death across different health and social care sectors.

Methods: We used a linked local government and health data of East London residents (n=4661) aged 50 or over, deceased between 2016 and 2020. Individuals who died in hospital were matched to those who died elsewhere according to a wide range of demographic, socioeconomic and health factors. We reported mean healthcare costs and 95% CIs by care sectors over the 12-month period before death. Subgroup analyses were conducted to investigate if the role of place of death differs according to long-term conditions and age.

Results: We found that mean difference in total cost between hospital and non-hospital decedents was £4565 (95% CI £3132 to £6046). Hospital decedents were associated with higher hospital cost (£5196, £4499 to £5905), higher mental healthcare cost (£283, £78 to £892) and lower social care cost (-£838, -£1,209 to -£472), compared with individuals who died elsewhere. Subgroup analysis shows that the association between place of death and healthcare costs differs by age and long-term conditions, including cancer, mental health and cardiovascular diseases.

Conclusion: This study suggests that trajectories of end-of-life healthcare costs vary by place of death in a differential way across health and social care sectors. High hospital burden for cancer patients may be alleviated by strengthening healthcare provision in less cost-intensive settings, such as community and social care.