Palliative medicine
-
Palliative medicine · Dec 2013
Research on psychological and social factors in palliative care: an invited commentary.
Psychosocial factors are a major determinant of well-being in patients with advanced disease. However, the development of valid and reliable measures of meaningful and relevant outcomes and randomized controlled trials to assess the impact of novel interventions are relatively recent accomplishments. ⋯ Psychosocial research in palliative care has grown in rigor and volume over the past several decades, and a variety of novel interventions have been developed and evaluated. However, the findings from this research have only begun to have an impact on clinical practice in palliative care.
-
Palliative medicine · Dec 2013
Recommendations for managing missing data, attrition and response shift in palliative and end-of-life care research: part of the MORECare research method guidance on statistical issues.
Statistical analysis in palliative and end-of-life care research can be problematic due to high levels of missing data, attrition and response shift as disease progresses. ⋯ When designing studies in palliative and end-of-life care, it is recommended that high rates of attrition should not be seen as indicative of poor design and that a clear statistical analysis plan is in place to account for missing data and attrition.
-
Palliative medicine · Dec 2013
Dying at home--is it better: a narrative appraisal of the state of the science.
Achieving home care and home death is increasingly used as an outcome measure of palliative care services. ⋯ We call for further analyses of variations in place of care and place of death and robust studies on how patients and families formulate and change preferences over time. Regular monitoring of outcomes, quality and costs of palliative home care is urged.