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Impact of provider level, training and gender on the utilization of palliative care and hospice in neuro-oncology: a North-American survey.

ABSTRACT: Specialized palliative care (PC) services have emerged to address symptoms and provide end-of-life management for patients with brain tumors. The utilization patterns of PC in neuro-oncology are unknown. A 22-question survey was distributed to participants of the society for neuro-oncology annual meeting 2012 (n = 4487). Nonparametric methods including Wilcoxon two-sample and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to assess differences in responses. 239 (5.3 %) evaluable responses were received; 79 % of respondents were physicians, and 17 % were nurses or midlevel providers. Forty-seven percent were medical or neuro-oncologists, 31 % neurosurgeons and 11 % radiation oncologists. Forty percent had no formal training in PC, 57 % had some formal training and 3 % completed a PC fellowship. Seventy-nine percent practiced in an academic setting. Of the respondents, 57 % referred patients to PC when symptoms required treatment and 18 % at end of life. Only 51 % of all providers felt comfortable dealing with end-of-life issues and symptoms, while 33 % did not. Fifty-one percent preferred a service named "Supportive Care" rather than "Palliative Care" (MDs > midlevel providers, p < 0.001), and 32 % felt that patient expectations for ongoing therapy hindered their ability to make PC referrals. Female gender, formal training in neuro-oncology and PC, and medical versus surgical neuro-oncology training were significantly associated with hospice referral, comfort in dealing with end-of-life issues, and ease of access to PC services. Provider level, specialty, gender, training in PC and neuro-oncology have significant impact on the utilization of PC and hospice in neuro-oncology.

SUBMITTER: Walbert T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5557051 | biostudies-other | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Project description:Injection drug users (IDUs) face numerous obstacles to receiving optimal HIV care, and have been shown to underutilize antiretroviral therapy (ART). We sought to estimate the degree to which providers of HIV care defer initiation of ART because of injection drug use and to identify clinic and provider-level factors associated with resistance to prescribing ART to IDUs.We administered an Internet-based survey to 662 regular prescribers of ART in the United States and Canada. Questionnaire items assessed characteristics of providers' personal demographics and training, site of clinical practice and attitudes about drug use. Respondents then rated whether they would likely prescribe or defer ART for hypothetical patients in a series of scenarios involving varying levels of drug use and HIV disease stage.Survey responses were received from 43% of providers invited by email and direct mail, and 8.5% of providers invited by direct mail only. Overall, 24.2% of providers reported that they would defer ART for an HIV-infected patient with a CD4+ cell count of 200 cells/mm3 if the patient actively injected drugs, and 52.4% would defer ART if the patient injected daily. Physicians were more likely than non-physician providers to defer ART if a patient injected drugs (adjusted odds ratio 2.6, 95% CI 1.4-4.9). Other predictors of deferring ART for active IDUs were having fewer years of experience in HIV care, regularly caring for fewer than 20 HIV-infected patients, and working at a clinic serving a population with low prevalence of injection drug use. Likelihood of deferring ART was directly proportional to both CD4+ cell count and increased frequency of injecting.Many providers of HIV care defer initiation of antiretroviral therapy for patients who inject drugs, even in the setting of advanced immunologic suppression. Providers with more experience of treating HIV, those in high injection drug use prevalence areas and non-physician providers may be more willing to prescribe ART despite on-going injection drug use. Because of limitations, including low response rate and use of a convenience sample, these findings may not be generalizable to all HIV care providers in North America.

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Impact of provider level, training and gender on the utilization of palliative care and hospice in neuro-oncology: a North-American survey.

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