Palliative care management in patients with Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders in Spain. National survey of neurologists

Introduction

Palliative care in neurodegenerative diseases is useful but underused. The objective of this study is to know how palliative care (PC) is applied in Spain in order to identify limitations and unmet needs.

Materials and Methods

It is a descriptive, observational, cross-sectional study, anonymous survey type of 20 questions, directed and answered by neurologists dedicated to movement disorders (MD) in Spain.

Results

58 responses were obtained from neurologists from 15 autonomous communities. 69% answered that they did not have a specialised MD nursing facility but did have a PC team in their centre (81%). No specific protocol for PC in MD was identified. All except one neurologist stated that they lacked sufficient training in PC, the main training need being the “advance directives explanation”. Only 1 in 4 neurologists answered routinely explaining advance healthcare planning to their patients, recognising up to 84.5% of neurologists not knowing how to assess the patient's competence. 60.3% of those surveyed answered that between 10% and 30% of their patients would be candidates for PC, although 1 in 3 said they were not clear when to refer the patient to PC. 100% of neurologists affirmed the priority need to implement PC protocols in MD.

Conclusions

Our study shows a formative deficit in PC in this area and in the care of the patient with movement disorders and their environment, and should serve as a starting point to develop consensual care protocols.