The American journal of hospice & palliative care
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Am J Hosp Palliat Care · May 2003
Characteristics of dementia end-of-life care across care settings.
End-of-life care for persons with dementia in different care settings was retrospectively surveyed. In this sample, care recipients receiving hospice care and pain control stayed at home longer and were more likely to die at home. ⋯ Care recipients dying at home had fewer symptoms and less discomfort than care recipients dying in other settings. These results indicate that quality end-of-life care can be provided at home and is facilitated by hospice programs, effective pain control, and psychiatric care.
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Am J Hosp Palliat Care · May 2003
Comparative StudyComparison of hospice use and demographics among European Americans, African Americans, and Latinos.
The goals of this study were to compare the rate of use of hospice services and other relevant characteristics of European American, African American, and Latino hospice patients. Information on length of stay in hospice, marital status, age, disposition at termination, living situation, caregiver, referral source, and payment method was collected on patients who used hospice care in southern New Jersey between the years 1995 and 2001 (N = 1958). African Americans and Latinos were both found to use services at significantly lower rates than European Americans. ⋯ Differences were also found among the groups in marital status, living situation, caregiver, referral source, and payment method. These differences highlight the need for hospice providers to recognize issues unique to minority groups. The reasons for these disparities need to be clarified by further research.
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Am J Hosp Palliat Care · May 2003
Breakthrough strong opioid analgesia prescription in patients using transdermal fentanyl admitted to a hospice.
Durogesic (fentanyl) patches have revolutionized pain relief, but patients still require breakthrough medication. A retrospective analysis of in-patient admission notes at a 25-bed hospice over a six-month period was carried out. Details of analgesia being used on admission for both background and breakthrough pain were obtained, and the appropriateness of the breakthrough dose for those patients using transdermal fentanyl was determined. ⋯ Of these, 35 (62 percent) were prescribed strong opioid analgesia--the dose of breakthrough medication prescribed was appropriate in 11 patients (31 percent). Rescue dosing was less than recommended, in relation to prescribed transdermal fentanyl strength in 21 patients (60 percent) and greater than recommended in one patient (3 percent). In this study, short-acting strong opioid analgesia was not always prescribed for patients using transdermal fentanyl, and when they were prescribed, this was in the appropriate dose range in less than a third of patients.
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There are close to a hundred causes for hiccups, or singultus, the most common of which are gastrointestinal. Causes may be natural or drug induced, and the same agents that are used to treat hiccups may also induce them. Hiccups can be classified by their duration, as follows: up to 48 hours, acute; longer than 48 hours, persistent; and more than two months, intractable. ⋯ When they do, it can be extremely distressing and have a significant impact on quality of life. Pharmacologic approaches are often the most rational therapies for these patients. Baclofen seems to be a promising drug for use with both palliative care and perioperative patients, and using garabentin as an add-on to baclofen may also be a reasonable option to consider