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Journal of Pain and Symptom Management Jun 2024Outpatient palliative care (PC) has strong evidence demonstrating impact across serious illnesses, resulting in growing demand for skilled outpatient PC clinicians....
CONTEXT
Outpatient palliative care (PC) has strong evidence demonstrating impact across serious illnesses, resulting in growing demand for skilled outpatient PC clinicians. However, there is limited literature examining the existing state and quality of outpatient PC education during post-graduate training.
OBJECTIVES
Characterize the current state of outpatient training in United States (US) Hospice and Palliative Medicine (HPM) physician fellowships and elicit perceptions regarding quality of outpatient PC education.
METHODS
A cross-sectional survey of US adult HPM fellowship program directors (PDs) or their designee conducted between March-July 2023.
RESULTS
Of 161 programs, 85 participated (53% response rate) with representation across all US regions. HPM fellows spend a median of 4.8 weeks in outpatient PC compared to 24 weeks inpatient PC and 10.5 weeks in hospice settings. Over half (51%) of fellows saw outpatients from primarily one disease type with limited exposure to patients with other serious illnesses. Across programs, fellows' clinic structure, interdisciplinary team composition, and didactic experiences varied. On a 5-point rating scale, PDs reported significantly lower quality outpatient versus inpatient training (mean rating: 3.58 vs. 4.62, p< 0.001) and perceived fellows as less prepared for independent outpatient practice upon graduation (mean: 4.06 vs. 4.73, p< 0.001).
CONCLUSION
Our survey of US HPM fellowships identified multiple gaps between outpatient and inpatient PC education and training during fellowship and raises concern about the adequacy of outpatient PC training. To prepare the HPM workforce to meet the diverse needs of seriously ill populations and ensure adequate access, outpatient PC training requires reform.
PubMed: 38945458
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2024.06.017 -
Gynecologic Oncology Jun 2024Malignant large bowel obstruction (LBO) is a frequent complication affecting women with gynecologic cancers and is an indication for emergent surgery. However, the life...
OBJECTIVES
Malignant large bowel obstruction (LBO) is a frequent complication affecting women with gynecologic cancers and is an indication for emergent surgery. However, the life expectancy and subsequent medical care utilization are unknown. We sought to estimate overall survival (OS) following colostomy and describe subsequent healthcare utilization among patients with advanced gynecologic malignancies.
METHODS
We conducted a retrospective analysis of patients with advanced gynecologic cancers who underwent colostomy with palliative intent due to LBO at our institution between March 2014 and January 2023. Summary statistics were used to describe the clinical and demographic characteristics of the study population. OS was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and we defined healthcare utilization at the end-of-life using criteria published by the National Quality Forum.
RESULTS
A total of 78 patients were included. The median age at the time of surgery was 61 (range: 34-83), and most patients had recurrent ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer (n = 51, 65.4%), followed by cervical cancer (n = 16, 20.5%), and uterine cancer (n = 10, 12.8%). The median Charlson comorbidity index was 3 and median postoperative length of stay was five days (range: 1-26). The median follow-up for all patients was 4.5 months (range: 0.07-46.2), and the median OS was 4.5 months (95% CI: 2.9-6.0), including 12 patients (15.4%) with <30-day OS and 21 (26.9%) with <60-day OS. In the last 30 days of life, 62.7% of patients were re-admitted to the hospital, 53.0% were seen in the emergency department, and 18.5% were admitted to an intensive care unit.
CONCLUSIONS
A significant proportion of patients died within 60 days of surgery, and many had high healthcare utilization at the end of life.
PubMed: 38945019
DOI: 10.1016/j.ygyno.2024.06.023 -
Orvosi Hetilap Jun 2024
Topics: Humans; Palliative Care; Male; Female; Aged; Retrospective Studies; Internal Medicine; Quality of Life; Neoplasms; Middle Aged; COVID-19; Hungary; Aged, 80 and over
PubMed: 38944821
DOI: 10.1556/650.2024.33070 -
Radiotherapy and Oncology : Journal of... Apr 2024Guideline adherence in radiotherapy is crucial for maintaining treatment quality and consistency, particularly in non-trial patient settings where most treatments occur....
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Guideline adherence in radiotherapy is crucial for maintaining treatment quality and consistency, particularly in non-trial patient settings where most treatments occur. The study aimed to assess the impact of guideline changes on treatment planning practices and compare manual registry data accuracy with treatment planning data.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
This study utilised the DBCG RT Nation cohort, a collection of breast cancer radiotherapy data in Denmark, to evaluate adherence to guidelines from 2008 to 2016. The cohort included 7448 high-risk breast cancer patients. National guideline changes included, fractionation, introduction of respiratory gating, irradiation of the internal mammary lymph nodes, use of the simultaneous integrated boost technique and inclusion of the Left Anterior Descending coronary artery in delineation practice. Methods for structure name mapping, laterality detection, detection of temporal changes in population mean lung volume, and dose evaluation were presented and applied. Manually registered treatment characteristic data was obtained from the Danish Breast Cancer Database for comparison.
RESULTS
The study found immediate and consistent adherence to guideline changes across Danish radiotherapy centres. Treatment practices before guideline implementation were documented and showed a variation among centres. Discrepancies between manual registry data and actual treatment planning data were as high as 10% for some measures.
CONCLUSION
National guideline changes could be detected in the routine treatment data, with a high degree of compliance and short implementation time. Data extracted from treatment planning data files provides a more accurate and detailed characterisation of treatments and guideline adherence than medical register data.
PubMed: 38944554
DOI: 10.1016/j.radonc.2024.110289 -
Current Problems in Cancer Jun 2024To evaluate the prognostic value of C-reactive protein (CRP), albumin, CRP/albumin ratio (CAR), and modified Glasgow Prognostic Score (mGPS) at different thresholds in...
PURPOSE
To evaluate the prognostic value of C-reactive protein (CRP), albumin, CRP/albumin ratio (CAR), and modified Glasgow Prognostic Score (mGPS) at different thresholds in patients with advanced cancer in palliative care.
METHODS
Prospective cohort study with patients evaluated at a palliative care unit in Brazil between July 2016 and March 2020. We included patients ≥ 20 years old, both sexes, able to provide the necessary information or accompanied by someone able to do so, and Karnofsky Performance Status ≥ 30 %. The exclusion criteria were the absence of laboratory data and previous diagnosis of autoimmune and infectious diseases. The thresholds analyzed were: CRP < 5 vs. 5-10 vs. > 10 mg/L, albumin < 2.4 vs. 2.4-2.9 vs. 3.0-3.5 vs. > 3.5 g/dL; CAR <1.2 vs. 1.2-2.0 vs. > 2.0, and mGPS equal to 0 vs. 1 vs. 2. Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression models (with hazard ratios [HR] and 95% confidence interval [CI]) were used to evaluate prognostic value, and the concordance statistic (C-statistic) was used to evaluate the predictive accuracy of these thresholds to predict death within 90 days.
RESULTS
A total of 1,877 patients were included. Median overall survival was 51 (19;124) days and decreased in line with the deterioration of the inflammatory biomarkers. According to the Cox regression models, HR increased as the thresholds worsened (CRP: 1.74 [95% CI, 1.50-2.02] to 2.30 [95% CI, 2.00-2.64]; albumin: 1.77 [95% CI, 1.52-2.07] to 2.60 [95% CI, 2.15-3.14]; CAR: 1.47 [95% CI, 1.21-1.77] to 2.35 [95% CI, 2.05-2.69]; mGPS: 1.78 [95% CI, 1.40-2.23] to 1.89 [95% CI, 1.65-2.15]). All the inflammatory biomarkers evaluated showed discriminatory accuracy for predicting death (C-statistic >0.70), with CAR as the best parameter (C-statistic: 0.80).
CONCLUSION
Our results suggest that CRP, albumin, CAR, and mGPS can be used as clinically meaningful biomarkers to stratify patients with advanced cancer in palliative care according to the severity of these indicators.
PubMed: 38943779
DOI: 10.1016/j.currproblcancer.2024.101115 -
ESMO Open Jun 2024Locally advanced (unresectable) or metastatic dedifferentiated liposarcoma (DDLPS) is a common presentation of liposarcoma. Despite established diagnostic and treatment... (Review)
Review
Current unmet needs in locally advanced (unresectable) or metastatic dedifferentiated liposarcoma, the relevance of progression-free survival as clinical endpoint, and expectations for future clinical trial design: an international Delphi consensus report.
BACKGROUND
Locally advanced (unresectable) or metastatic dedifferentiated liposarcoma (DDLPS) is a common presentation of liposarcoma. Despite established diagnostic and treatment guidelines for DDLPS, critical clinical gaps remain driven by diagnostic challenges, symptom burden and the lack of targeted, safe and effective treatments. The objective of this study was to gather expert opinions from Europe and the United States on the management, unmet needs and expectations for clinical trial design as well as the value of progression-free survival (PFS) in this disease. Other aims included raising awareness and educate key stakeholders across healthcare systems.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
An international panel of 12 sarcoma key opinion leaders (KOLs) was recruited. The study consisted of two rounds of surveys with pre-defined statements. Experts scored each statement on a 9-point Likert scale. Consensus agreement was defined as ≥75% of experts scoring a statement with ≥7. Revised statements were discussed in a consensus meeting.
RESULTS
Consensus was reached on 43 of 55 pre-defined statements across disease burden, treatment paradigm, unmet needs, value of PFS and its association with overall survival (OS), and cross-over trial design. Twelve statements were deprioritised or merged with other statements. There were no statements where experts disagreed.
CONCLUSION
This study constitutes the first international Delphi panel on DDLPS. It aimed to explore KOL perception of the disease burden and unmet need in DDLPS, the value of PFS, and its potential translation to OS benefit, as well as the relevance of a cross-over trial design for DDLPS therapies. Results indicate an alignment across Europe and the United States regarding DDLPS management, unmet needs, and expectations for clinical trials. Raising awareness of critical clinical gaps in relation to DDLPS can contribute to improving patient outcomes and supporting the development of innovative treatments.
PubMed: 38943735
DOI: 10.1016/j.esmoop.2024.103487 -
Journal of the American Geriatrics... Jun 2024For aging-related research, there is a pressing need to attend to the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based interventions. Some aging-related interventions...
For aging-related research, there is a pressing need to attend to the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based interventions. Some aging-related interventions with established effectiveness may be poorly disseminated and implemented due to behavioral, organizational, payment, or other constraints. To provide insight into the beginning to end process of translation and implementation, we present a case history of the three-decade progression of Hospital at Home (HaH) now nearing national dissemination. We summarize research at various phases with particular attention to implementation considerations. Reviewing over three decades of HaH-related research dating from initial discovery to translation and implementation, we found that the content and importance of different constructs (e.g., inner practice vs. outer environmental setting) and the choice of implementation strategies differed depending on implementation context (testing of effectiveness, scaling, or sustainability). Early effectiveness studies mostly examined implementation issues related to the intervention, the practice setting, and the individuals involved. However, explicit and early consideration of scale and sustainment was not the primary focus. For example, HaH program intake is primarily through hospital emergency departments (ED). Initial efforts would have benefited from incorporating strategies (e.g., incorporating ED leadership into program leadership) to address night and weekend admissions. Many regulatory barriers did not surface during initial considerations. Considering implementation issues late may contribute to delay in bringing discoveries to population impact. The experience with HaH suggests that scale and sustainability bear earlier consideration because barriers and facilitators to implementation are likely to be different in content and importance at different phases of implementation.
PubMed: 38943488
DOI: 10.1111/jgs.19042 -
Nursing Open Jul 2024This study aims to explore the impact of emergency department internships on the attitudes towards death among undergraduate nursing students and their preferences for... (Observational Study)
Observational Study
AIM
This study aims to explore the impact of emergency department internships on the attitudes towards death among undergraduate nursing students and their preferences for end-of-life care settings. Additionally, the study analyzes the reasons behind nursing students' choices of end-of-life care settings and provides insights for improving undergraduate education on attitudes towards death and end-of-life care, and provide reference for the development of emergency hospice care.
DESIGN
This study adopts an observational design with a self-controlled before-and-after approach.
METHODS
A questionnaire survey was conducted with 96 nursing interns between July 2021 to June 2022. Demographic information and data on attitudes towards death, and preferences for end-oflife care location were collected by online questionnaire. Paired test were conducted to compare differences between groups.
RESULTS
The study included a total of 96 nursing students with an average age of 21.11 years. The scores for the avoidance-acceptance dimension of death attitudes before and after the internship were 2.40 (1.80, 3.00) and 2.20 (1.60, 3.00), respectively, showing a significant difference (Z = -2.084, p = 0.037). Factors such as gender, experience in caring for critically ill or dying patients, knowledge of death education, and discussions about death at home were found to influence nursing students' attitudes towards death. Nursing students expressed a preference for receiving end-of-life care and treatment in their homes or in hospice/palliative care wards, while the intensive care unit, emergency department, and nursing homes were the least preferred settings. There were significant differences in nursing students' preferences for end-of-life care settings before and after the internship (p = 0.000). Importantly, the number of nursing students expressing a desire to receive end-of-life care in the emergency department increased from 2 to 7 after the internship, while the number of students not wanting end-of-life care in the emergency department decreased by 5.
Topics: Humans; Students, Nursing; Male; Female; Terminal Care; Surveys and Questionnaires; Attitude to Death; Attitude of Health Personnel; Internship and Residency; Young Adult; Adult
PubMed: 38943259
DOI: 10.1002/nop2.2214 -
Trials Jun 2024Social isolation and loneliness (SIL) worsens mortality and other outcomes among older adults as much as smoking. We previously tested the impact of the HOW R U?...
Impact of an intergenerational program to improve loneliness and social isolation in older adults initiated at the time of emergency department discharge: study protocol for a three-arm randomized clinical trial.
BACKGROUND
Social isolation and loneliness (SIL) worsens mortality and other outcomes among older adults as much as smoking. We previously tested the impact of the HOW R U? intervention using peer support from similar-aged volunteers and demonstrated reduced SIL among older adults discharged from the emergency department (ED). Generativity, defined as "the interest in establishing and guiding the next generation," can provide an alternative theoretical basis for reducing SIL via intergenerational programs between members of younger and older generations. The current protocol will examine the impact of younger intergenerational volunteers providing the HOW RU?
METHODS
In this randomized clinical trial, we will compare the following three arms: (1) the standard same-generation peer support HOW R U? intervention, (2) HOW R U? intervention delivered by intergenerational volunteers, and (3) a common wait-list control group. Outcome assessors will be blinded to the intervention. Trained volunteers will deliver 12 weekly telephone support calls. We will recruit participants ≥ 70 years of age with baseline loneliness (six-item De Jong loneliness score of 2 or greater) from two EDs. Research staff will assess SIL, depression, quality of life, functional status, generativity, and perceived benefit at baseline, at 12 weeks, and 24 weeks post-intervention.
DISCUSSION
We hypothesize participants receiving the intergenerational intervention will show improved outcomes compared to the control group and peer support HOW R U?
INTERVENTION
We also hypothesize that participants with higher perceptions of generativity will have greater reductions in SIL than their lower generativity counterparts. Aging is experienced diversely, and social interventions combatting associated SIL should reflect that diversity. As part of a program of research following the Obesity-Related Behavioral Intervention Trials (ORBIT) model, the findings of this RCT will be used to define which intervention characteristics are most effective in reducing SIL.
TRIAL REGISTRATION
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05998343 Protocol ID:21-0074E. Registered on 24 July 2023.
Topics: Humans; Loneliness; Social Isolation; Aged; Emergency Service, Hospital; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Patient Discharge; Intergenerational Relations; Female; Quality of Life; Male; Peer Group; Social Support; Age Factors; Time Factors; Treatment Outcome; Volunteers
PubMed: 38943176
DOI: 10.1186/s13063-024-08250-2 -
BMJ Paediatrics Open Jun 2024Limited evidence exists regarding children receiving home healthcare devices (HHDs). This study aimed to describe the range and type of HHD use by children with chronic...
BACKGROUND
Limited evidence exists regarding children receiving home healthcare devices (HHDs). This study aimed to describe the range and type of HHD use by children with chronic medical conditions in Japan and explore factors leading to increased use of these devices.
METHODS
This retrospective cohort study was conducted using data from the National Database of Health Insurance Claims and Specific Health Checkups of Japan. Children receiving HHD aged ≤18 years between April 2011 and March 2019 were included. Children newly administered HHD between 2011 and 2013 were followed up for 5 years, and logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the relationship between increased HHD use and each selected risk factor (comorbidity or types of HHD). The models were adjusted for age category at home device introduction, sex and region.
RESULTS
Overall, 52 375 children receiving HHD were identified. The number (proportion) of children receiving HHD increased during the study period (11 556 [0.05%] in 2010 and 25 593 [0.13%] in 2018). The most commonly administered HHD was oxygen (51.0% in 2018). Among the 12 205 children receiving HHD followed up for 5 years, 70.4% and 68.3% who used oxygen or continuous positive airway pressure, respectively, were released from the devices, while only 25.8% who used mechanical ventilation were released from the device. The following diagnosis/comorbidities were associated with increased HHD use: other neurological diseases (OR): 2.85, 95% CI): 2.54-3.19), cerebral palsy (OR: 2.16, 95% CI: 1.87 to 2.49), congenital malformations of the nervous system (OR: 1.70, 95% CI: 1.34 to 2.13) and low birth weight (OR: 1.68, 95% CI: 1.41 to 2.00).
CONCLUSIONS
This study provides nationwide population-based empirical data to clarify the detailed information regarding children receiving HHD in Japan. This information could assist healthcare professionals in improving the quality of life of these children and their families and help health policymakers consider measures.
Topics: Humans; Japan; Retrospective Studies; Female; Male; Child; Home Care Services; Child, Preschool; Infant; Adolescent; Chronic Disease; Infant, Newborn
PubMed: 38942589
DOI: 10.1136/bmjpo-2024-002685