Journal of pain and symptom management
-
J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2013
Race and residence: intercounty variation in black-white differences in hospice use.
Although blacks use hospice at lower rates than whites in the U.S., racial differences in hospice use vary by geographic area. ⋯ In most counties, the rates of hospice use were similar for blacks and whites. In counties with a racial disparity, there were more resources to deliver aggressive care (i.e., hospital beds and specialists). Because of a greater preference for life-sustaining therapies, blacks may be more likely to use acute care services at the end of life when resources for the delivery of these services are readily available.
-
J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2013
The cost-effectiveness of the decision to hospitalize nursing home residents with advanced dementia.
Nursing home (NH) residents with advanced dementia commonly experience burdensome and costly hospitalizations that may not extend survival or improve quality of life. Cost-effectiveness analyses of decisions to hospitalize these residents have not been reported. ⋯ Treatment strategies favoring hospitalization for NH residents with advanced dementia are not cost effective.
-
J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2013
ReviewFrom sedation to continuous sedation until death: how has the conceptual basis of sedation in end-of-life care changed over time?
Numerous attempts have been made to describe and define sedation in end-of-life care over time. However, confusion and inconsistency in the use of terms and definitions persevere in the literature, making interpretation, comparison, and extrapolation of many studies and case analyses problematic. ⋯ There is a pressing need to resolve the conceptual confusion that currently exists in the literature to bring clarity to the dialogue and build a base of commonality on which to design research and enhance the practice of sedation in end-of-life care.
-
J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2013
Multicenter Study Observational StudyBreakthrough cancer pain: an observational study of 1000 European oncology patients.
Breakthrough pain is common in patients with cancer and is a significant cause of morbidity in this group of patients. ⋯ Breakthrough cancer pain is an extremely heterogeneous condition.