BMJ supportive & palliative care
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BMJ Support Palliat Care · May 2020
Early palliative care: the surprise question and the palliative care screening tool-better together.
The 'surprise question' (SQ) and the palliative care screening tool (PCST) are the common assessment tools in the early identification of patients requiring palliative care. However, the comparison of their prognostic accuracies has not been extensively studied. This study aimed to compare the prognostic accuracy of SQ and PCST in terms of recognising patients nearing end of life (EOL) and those appropriate for palliative care. ⋯ A combination of the SQ with PCST has better prognostic accuracy than either one in isolation.
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BMJ Support Palliat Care · May 2020
Delirium screening practice in specialist palliative care units: a survey.
Delirium is common and distressing in palliative care settings. This survey aims to describe current practice regarding delirium identification in specialist palliative care units (SPCU), such as inpatient hospices, in the UK. ⋯ There is variation in practice for delirium screening and diagnosis in SPCUs. Clinical guidelines for delirium, including consensus on which screening tools to use, are needed for this setting.