Palliative medicine
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Palliative medicine · Jan 2000
Measuring patient outcomes in palliative care: a reliability and validity study of the Support Team Assessment Schedule.
This study reports the process and results of a psychometric evaluation of a clinical audit tool, the Support Team Assessment Schedule (STAS), used to measure outcomes of palliative care. The STAS was developed in London, UK to audit community palliative care services provided by a support team. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the STAS when introduced in a different setting and with different populations from those for which it had been designed. ⋯ The validity analysis highlighted the differences between patients, families and health care professionals' perceptions of the same clinical situation. This study provided a valuable perspective on using a previously developed clinical audit tool in different patient populations and clinical settings. Recommendations for future use of the tool are offered.
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Palliative medicine · Jan 2000
Risk factors for death rattle in terminally ill cancer patients: a prospective exploratory study.
Death rattle is frequently observed in cancer patients whose death is impending and may contribute to the severe distress of patients and their family members. To identify risk factors for development and persistency of death rattle, a prospective study was performed on 245 hospice inpatients. ⋯ In conclusion, development of death rattle was influenced by both brain and lung malignancies, while its persistency was mainly determined by pulmonary pathology. A clinical classification of death rattle based on these factors would be established by a further confirmatory study.