Articles: palliative-care.
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Palliative medicine · Jan 1999
ReviewThe impact of different models of specialist palliative care on patients' quality of life: a systematic literature review.
This study set out to systematically review the research evidence about the impact of alternative models of specialist palliative care on the quality of life of patients. Eighty-six relevant papers were identified and reviewed, including 22 descriptive and 27 comparative studies. We found few comparative trials of reasonable quality. ⋯ These negative findings may be due to the limitations of the assessment tools used. There is a need for larger studies to provide clear evidence as to whether specialist palliative care services provide improvements in patients' quality of life. This review does not exclude the possibility that models of care might be justifiable on other grounds such as patient preference or cost-effectiveness.
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The hospital-based specialist palliative care service is the latest extension of the hospice movement in the UK, bringing the message of specialist palliative care back into the hospital setting. There are now over 200 palliative care services within the acute setting, including 76 specialist palliative care teams. The composition, advantages and disadvantages of such teams are described, and the challenge and importance of evaluating these services are discussed.
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Comparative Study
Self-expanding oesophageal metal stents for the palliation of dysphagia due to extrinsic compression.
The role of self-expanding metallic stents is well established in the palliation of oesophageal stenosis and dysphagia due to primary oesophageal malignancy. However, their role in palliation of dysphagia due to external compressive mediastinal malignancies is not well established. The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of self-expanding metallic stents in the palliation of dysphagia due to extrinsic oesophageal compression by mediastinal malignancy. ⋯ There was no procedure- or stent-related mortality. The mean survival time of this group was 2. 1 months. Self-expanding metallic stents can be safely and effectively used in the palliation of dysphagia due to external mediastinal malignancies.
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The psychometric properties of a short but comprehensive quality-of-life instrument, developed especially for cancer patients in the palliative care setting are presented. Items from physical, psychological, social and existential domains are included. The findings suggest that the AQEL (Assessment of Quality of Life at the End of Life) instrument is both valid and reliable, but further trials with more patients are needed.