Palliative medicine
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Palliative medicine · Apr 2014
Multicenter Study Observational StudyQuality-of-Life assessment in malignant pleural effusion treated with indwelling pleural catheter: a prospective study.
Malignant pleural effusion is a clinical problem that impairs Quality of Life in patients with advanced malignancies. An indwelling pleural catheter is an alternative treatment to palliate some of the symptoms. ⋯ Indwelling pleural catheter is useful for palliative management of recurrent malignant pleural effusion in that it benefits Quality of Life in outpatients with advanced malignancies. In lung cancer patients, scores indicated that indwelling pleural catheter also provides significant relief of dyspnea.
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Palliative medicine · Apr 2014
Why do older people oppose physician-assisted dying? A qualitative study.
Physician-assisted dying at the end of life has become a significant issue of public discussion. While legally available in a number of countries and jurisdictions, it remains controversial and illegal in New Zealand. ⋯ An important finding of the study suggests that how some older individuals think about physician-assisted dying is strongly influenced by their past experiences of dying and death. While some participants had witnessed good, well-managed dying and death experiences which confirmed for them the view that physician-assisted dying was unnecessary, those who had witnessed poor dying and death experiences opposed physician-assisted dying on the grounds that such practices could come to be abused by others.