Added Value of Early Consultation of an Inpatient Palliative Care Team in Hospitalized Older Patients With High Symptom Burden: A Prospective Comparative Study.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: Background
It is estimated that in 2050 one quarter of the population in Europe will be aged 65 years and older. Although the added value of a palliative care team is emphasized in the literature, the impact of the palliative care team on the symptom burden in older non-cancer patients is not yet well established.Objectives
To structurally measure symptoms and to investigate whether proactive consultation with a palliative care team results in improvement of symptoms.Design
This study has a prospective comparative design.Setting/participants
Older patients, admitted to a Dutch University Medical Centre for who a health care professional had a negative response to the Surprise Question, were selected.Measurements, results
In period one, 59 patients completed the Utrecht Symptom Diary (USD) at day one of admission and after 7 days. In period 2 (n = 60), the same procedure was followed; additionally, the palliative care team was consulted for patients with high USD-scores. Significant improvement on the USD Total Distress Score (TSDS) was observed in both groups without a difference between the 2 periods. This study showed an association between consultation of the palliative care team and improvement on USD TSDS (adjusted odds ratio: 4.9; 95% confidence interval: 1.816-13.198), despite low follow-up rate of advices (approximately 50%).Conclusions
This study emphasizes the importance of creating awareness for consulting the palliative care team. Further research should focus on assessing the reason behind the low follow-up rate of the advice given and understanding the specific advices contributing to symptom improvement.
SUBMITTER: Naaktgeboren MW
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8377279 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Similar Datasets
Project description:BackgroundPrior research indicates that hospice and palliative care delivered in outpatient settings are associated with reduced hospital readmissions for cancer patients. However, little is known about how inpatient palliative care affects readmissions in oncology.ObjectiveTo examine associations among inpatient palliative care consultation, hospice use (discharge), and 30-day readmissions among patients with solid tumor cancers.MethodsWe identified all live discharges from a large tertiary cancer hospital between 2010 and 2016. Palliative care consult data were abstracted from medical charts and linked to hospital encounter data. Propensity scores were used to match palliative care consult to usual care encounters. Modified Poisson regression models estimated adjusted relative risk (aRR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of 30-day readmissions and hospice discharge. We compared predicted probabilities of readmission for palliative care consultation with hospice discharge, without hospice discharge, and usual care.ResultsOf 8085 eligible encounters, 753 involved a palliative care consult. The likelihood of having a 30-day readmission did not differ between palliative care consult and usual care groups (p > 0.05). However, the palliative care consult group was more likely than usual care to have a hospice discharge (aRR = 4.09, 95% CI: 3.07-5.44). The predicted probability of 30-day readmission was lower when palliative care consultation was combined with hospice discharge compared to usual care or consultation with discharge to nonhospice postacute care (p < 0.001).ConclusionsThe effect of inpatient palliative care on readmissions in oncology is largely driven by hospice enrollment. Strategies that combine palliative care consultation with hospice discharge may decrease hospital readmissions and improve cancer care quality.
| S-EPMC5757084 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Alcohol and drug use results in substantial morbidity, mortality, and cost. Individuals with alcohol and drug use disorders are overrepresented in general medical settings. Hospital-based interventions offer an opportunity to engage with a vulnerable population that may not otherwise seek treatment.To determine whether inpatient addiction consultation improves substance use outcomes 1 month after discharge.Prospective quasi-experimental evaluation comparing 30-day post-discharge outcomes between participants who were and were not seen by an addiction consult team during hospitalization at an urban academic hospital.Three hundred ninety-nine hospitalized adults who screened as high risk for having an alcohol or drug use disorder or who were clinically identified by the primary nurse as having a substance use disorder.Addiction consultation from a multidisciplinary specialty team offering pharmacotherapy initiation, motivational counseling, treatment planning, and direct linkage to ongoing addiction treatment.Addiction Severity Index (ASI) composite score for alcohol and drug use and self-reported abstinence at 30 days post-discharge. Secondary outcomes included 90-day substance use measures and self-reported hospital and ED utilization.Among 265 participants with 30-day follow-up, a greater reduction in the ASI composite score for drug or alcohol use was seen in the intervention group than in the control group (mean ASI-alcohol decreased by 0.24 vs. 0.08, p < 0.001; mean ASI-drug decreased by 0.05 vs. 0.02, p = 0.003.) There was also a greater increase in the number of days of abstinence in the intervention group versus the control group (+12.7 days vs. +5.6, p < 0.001). The differences in ASI-alcohol, ASI-drug, and days abstinent all remained statistically significant after controlling for age, gender, employment status, smoking status, and baseline addiction severity (p = 0.018, 0.018, and 0.02, respectively). In a sensitivity analysis, assuming that patients who were lost to follow-up had no change from baseline severity, the differences remained statistically significant.In a non-randomized cohort of medical inpatients, addiction consultation reduced addiction severity for alcohol and drug use and increased the number of days of abstinence in the first month after hospital discharge.
| S-EPMC5515798 | biostudies-other
Project description:RationaleThe impact of palliative care consultation on end-of-life care has not previously been evaluated in a multi-center study.ObjectivesTo evaluate the impact of palliative care consultation on the incidence of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) performed and comfort care received at the end-of-life in hospitalized patients with COVID-19.MethodsWe used the Society of Critical Care Medicine's COVID-19 registry to extract clinical data on patients hospitalized with COVID-19 between March 31st, 2020 to March 17th, 2021 and died during their hospitalization. The proportion of patients who received palliative care consultation was assessed in patients who did and did not receive CPR (primary outcome) and comfort care (secondary outcome). Propensity matching was used to account for potential confounding variables.Measurements and main results3,227 patients were included in the analysis. There was no significant difference in the incidence of palliative care consultation between the CPR and no-CPR groups (19.9% vs. 19.4%, p = 0.8334). Patients who received comfort care at the end-of-life were significantly more likely to have received palliative care consultation (43.3% vs. 7.7%, p < 0.0001). After propensity matching for comfort care on demographic characteristics and comorbidities, this relationship was still significant (43.2% vs. 8.5%; p < 0.0001).ConclusionPalliative care consultation was not associated with CPR performed at the end-of-life but was associated with increased incidence of comfort care being utilized. These results suggest that utilizing palliative care consultation at the end-of-life may better align the needs and values of patients with the care they receive.
| S-EPMC8669976 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Differences among hospitals in the use of inpatient consultation may contribute to variation in outcomes and costs for hospitalized patients, but basic epidemiologic data on consultations nationally are lacking.The purpose of the study was to identify physician, hospital, and geographic factors that explain variation in rates of inpatient consultation.This was a retrospective observational study.This work included 3,118,080 admissions of Medicare patients to 4,501 U.S. hospitals in 2009 and 2010.The primary outcome measured was number of consultations conducted during the hospitalization, summarized at the hospital level as the number of consultations per 1,000 Medicare admissions, or "consultation density."Consultations occurred 2.6 times per admission on average. Among non-critical access hospitals, use of consultation varied 3.6-fold across quintiles of hospitals (933 versus 3,390 consultations per 1,000 admissions, lowest versus highest quintiles, p < 0.001). Sicker patients received greater intensity of consultation (rate ratio [RR] 1.18, 95% CI 1.17-1.18 for patients admitted to ICU; and RR 1.19, 95% CI 1.18-1.20 for patients who died). However, even after controlling for patient-level factors, hospital characteristics also predicted differences in rates of consultation. For example, hospital size (large versus small, RR 1.31, 95% CI 1.25-1.37), rural location (rural versus urban, RR 0.78, CI 95% 0.76-0.80), ownership status (public versus not-for-profit, RR 0.94, 95% CI 0.91-0.97), and geographic quadrant (Northeast versus West, RR 1.17, 95% CI 1.12-1.21) all influenced the intensity of consultation use.Hospitals exhibit marked variation in the number of consultations per admission in ways not fully explained by patient characteristics. Hospital "consultation density" may constitute an important focus for monitoring resource use for hospitals or health systems.
| S-EPMC4471009 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ImportanceIncreasing inpatient palliative care delivery is prioritized, but large-scale, experimental evidence of its effectiveness is lacking.ObjectiveTo determine whether ordering palliative care consultation by default for seriously ill hospitalized patients without requiring greater palliative care staffing increased consultations and improved outcomes.Design, setting, and participantsA pragmatic, stepped-wedge, cluster randomized trial was conducted among patients 65 years or older with advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, dementia, or kidney failure admitted from March 21, 2016, through November 14, 2018, to 11 US hospitals. Outcome data collection ended on January 31, 2019.InterventionOrdering palliative care consultation by default for eligible patients, while allowing clinicians to opt-out, was compared with usual care, in which clinicians could choose to order palliative care.Main outcomes and measuresThe primary outcome was hospital length of stay, with deaths coded as the longest length of stay, and secondary end points included palliative care consult rate, discharge to hospice, do-not-resuscitate orders, and in-hospital mortality.ResultsOf 34 239 patients enrolled, 24 065 had lengths of stay of at least 72 hours and were included in the primary analytic sample (10 313 in the default order group and 13 752 in the usual care group; 13 338 [55.4%] women; mean age, 77.9 years). A higher percentage of patients in the default order group received palliative care consultation than in the standard care group (43.9% vs 16.6%; adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 5.17 [95% CI, 4.59-5.81]) and received consultation earlier (mean [SD] of 3.4 [2.6] days after admission vs 4.6 [4.8] days; P < .001). Length of stay did not differ between the default order and usual care groups (percent difference in median length of stay, -0.53% [95% CI, -3.51% to 2.53%]). Patients in the default order group had higher rates of do-not-resuscitate orders at discharge (aOR, 1.40 [95% CI, 1.21-1.63]) and discharge to hospice (aOR, 1.30 [95% CI, 1.07-1.57]) than the usual care group, and similar in-hospital mortality (4.7% vs 4.2%; aOR, 0.86 [95% CI, 0.68-1.08]).Conclusions and relevanceDefault palliative care consult orders did not reduce length of stay for older, hospitalized patients with advanced chronic illnesses, but did improve the rate and timing of consultation and some end-of-life care processes.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02505035.
| S-EPMC10792472 | biostudies-literature
Project description:AimsPatients with heart failure (HF) may have variable unrecognized symptom burdens. We sought to investigate the details, determinants, and prognostic significance of symptom burden in hospitalized patients with HF.Methods and resultsWe prospectively evaluated consecutive hospitalized patients with HF as primary diagnosis at our institution using the Integrated Palliative care Outcome Scale (IPOS) both on admission and at discharge. The IPOS, which is a well-validated multi-dimensional symptom assessment scale among advanced illness, consists of 17 questions for enquiring about physical symptoms (10 items), emotional symptoms (4 items) and communication and practical issues (3 items) using a 5-point Likert scale (0 [best]-4 [worst] points). Clinically relevant symptoms were defined as ≥2 points for each IPOS item. Worsening symptom burden was defined as the total IPOS score at discharge being poorer than that on admission. Of 294 patients (mean age: 77.5 ± 12.0 years, male: 168 patients, New York Heart Association class IV: 96 patients, mean left ventricular ejection fraction [LVEF]: 44%, and median N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide [NT-proBNP] level: 4418 ng/L), the median (IQR) total IPOS score on admission was 19 (12, 27) and they were widely distributed (minimum: 0 - maximum: 52). The total IPOS score on admission was not correlated with the HF severity, including LVEF (Spearman's ρ = -0.05, P = 0.43), NT-proBNP levels (Spearman's ρ = 0.08, P = 0.20) or in-hospital mortality prediction model (GWTG-HF risk score) (Spearman's ρ = 0.01, P = 0.90). Total IPOS scores significantly decreased during hospitalization as a whole (median [IQR]: 13 [6, 21] at discharge; P < 0.001 vs. those on admission). All of the four emotional symptoms (patient anxiety, depression, family anxiety and feeling at peace) remained in the top 5 of clinically relevant symptoms at discharge, whereas none of 10 physical symptoms were nominated. Worsening symptom burden was noted in 28% of the patients during hospitalization, and was independently associated with higher all-cause mortality after discharge (hazard ratio: 2.28, 95% confidence interval: 1.02-5.09; P = 0.044) even after adjustment by age and HF mortality prediction model (MAGGIC risk score).ConclusionsWe revealed that hospitalized patients with HF had multi-dimensional symptom burdens which varied among individuals and were not correlated with the disease severity. Emotional symptoms, such as anxiety and depression, were the main clinically relevant symptoms at discharge. A worsening IPOS score was noted in a quarter of patients with HF and was associated with a poor prognosis, suggesting the importance of holistic symptom assessment during the course of hospitalization for HF.
| S-EPMC9065822 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Background: The American Society of Clinical Oncology's recommendation for "dedicated palliative care services, early in the disease course, concurrent with active treatment" for cancer patients is a challenge for cancer centers to accommodate. Despite demonstrated benefits of concurrent care, disparities among socioeconomic and ethnic groups in access to supportive care services have been described. The aim of this project was to evaluate: (a) how insurance coverage and ethnicity impact patient symptom burden and, (b) how those factors influence palliative access for patients at a South Texas NCI-designated cancer center. Methods: During a 5-month prospective period, 604 patients from five ambulatory oncology clinics completed the 10 question Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS) surveys during their clinic visit. Patient demographics, ESAS scores, palliative referral decisions, and time to palliative encounters were collected. We compared symptom burden and time to consult based on ethnicity and insurance status (insured = Group A; under-insured and safety net = Group B). Results: The mean ESAS score for all patients at the initial visit was 19.9 (SD = 18.1). Safety net patients were significantly more likely to be Hispanic, younger in age, and have an underlying GI malignancy in comparison to insured patients; however, the symptom severity was similar between groups with over 40% of individuals reporting at least one severe symptom. Twenty-one referrals were made to palliative care. On average, Group B had 33.3 days longer wait times until their first potential visit (p < 0.01) when compared to Group A. Time to actual visit was on average 57.6 days longer for patients in Group B compared to patients in Group A (p = 0.01), averaging at 73.8 days for safety net patients. Conclusions: This project highlights the high symptom burden of oncology patients and disparities in access to services based on insurance coverage. This investigation revealed a 4-fold increase in the time to the first scheduled palliative care visit based on whether patients were insured vs. under-insured. While this study is limited by a small sample size, data suggest that under-insured oncology patients may have significant barriers to palliative care services, which may influence their cancer care quality.
| S-EPMC6196262 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Internet-delivered interventions can be effective in treating mental disorders. However, their rate of use in German psychiatric inpatient routine care is low. The current study aimed to investigate the attitude of mental health care professionals working in inpatient care regarding internet-delivered interventions, including presumed benefits, barriers and facilitators. In total, 176 health professionals from ten inpatient psychiatric hospitals throughout Germany were surveyed on site. The professionals' attitude towards internet-delivered interventions in inpatient care was assessed by an adapted version of the 'Attitude toward Telemedicine in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy' (ATTiP) questionnaire. To identify benefits, barriers and facilitators, we developed open-response questions that were based on the 'Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology' (UTAUT) and analyzed by a qualitative content analysis. Professionals reported little experience or knowledge about internet-delivered interventions. Their attitude towards internet-delivered interventions in psychiatric inpatient care was rather indifferent. The most frequently mentioned potential benefits were an optimised treatment structure and patient empowerment; the most frequently anticipated barriers were too severe symptoms of patients, the feared neglect of face-to-face contacts and insufficient technical equipment; and the most frequently mentioned facilitators were high usability of the internet-based intervention, a sufficient functional level of the patient and further education of staff. For successful implementation in the inpatient sector, internet-delivered interventions must be adapted to the special needs of severely mentally ill patients and to the hospital management systems and workflow. In addition, technical preconditions (internet access, devices) must be met. Last, further education of mental health care professionals is needed.
| S-EPMC7961170 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Background/Aims: Patients with end-stage liver disease (ESLD) have a high risk for readmission. We studied the role of palliative care consultation (PCC) in ESLD-related readmissions with a focus on health care resource utilization in the United States. Methods: We performed a retrospective longitudinal analysis on patients surviving hospitalizations with ESLD from January 2010 to September 2014 utilizing the Nationwide Readmissions Database with a 90-day follow-up after discharge. We analyzed annual trends in PCC among patients with ESLD. We matched PCC to no-PCC (1:1) using propensity scores to create a pseudorandomized clinical study. We estimated the impact of PCC on readmission rates (30- and 90-day), and length of stay (LOS) and cost during subsequent readmissions. Results: Of the 67,480 hospitalizations with ESLD, 3485 (5.3%) received PCC, with an annual increase from 3.6% to 6.7% (p for trend <0.01). The average 30- and 90-day annual readmission rates were 36.2% and 54.6%, respectively. PCC resulted in a lower risk for 30- and 90-day readmissions (hazard ratio: 0.42, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.38-0.47 and 0.38, 95% CI: 0.34-0.42, respectively). On subsequent 30- and 90-day readmissions, PCC was associated with decreased LOS (5.6- vs. 7.4 days and 5.7- vs. 6.9 days, p < 0.01) and cost (US $48,752 vs. US $75,810 and US $48,582 vs. US $69,035, p < 0.01). Conclusion: Inpatient utilization of PCC for ESLD is increasing annually, yet still remains low in the United States. More importantly, PCC was associated with a decline in readmission rates resulting in a lower burden on health care resource utilization and improvement in cost savings during subsequent readmissions.
| S-EPMC6931914 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectivesTo investigate the current situation of palliative care needs and the symptom burden in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) undergoing maintenance hemodialysis (MHD), and to explore whether there are differences between younger and older patients.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted in the hemodialysis centers of two tertiary hospitals from November 2021 to June 2022. Participants were selected by convenience sampling. Socio-demographics, clinical characteristics, the Palliative Care Outcome Scale (POS), the Dialysis Symptom Index (DSI), and health-related quality of life (EQ-5D-3L) were used for evaluation. Descriptive statistics, between-group comparisons, and correlation analysis were used to analyze the data.ResultsA total of 236 patients were enrolled, including 118 younger and 118 older patients. The total median (P 25, P 75) POS score was 16.0 (12.0, 23.0), and the score was higher in older patients (P < 0.01). The mean total number of symptoms in MHD patients was 15.04 ± 5.06, and the overall median symptom severity score was 59.0 (52.0, 71.0); these scores were higher in the older group (P < 0.01). The most common symptom was dry mouth (91.5%), followed by itching (83.1%), and dry skin (82.2%). Additionally, palliative care needs were significantly associated with symptom burden and health-related quality of life (HRQOL).ConclusionsThe results showed that patients with ESRD undergoing MHD have a significant symptom burden and moderate palliative care needs, which are more severe in older patients. Therefore, interdisciplinary teams should be formed to actively manage patients' symptoms and meet the physical, psychological, social, and spiritual needs related to palliative care to improve patients' HRQOL.
| S-EPMC9587393 | biostudies-literature