Identifying patients with advanced chronic conditions for a progressive palliative care approach: a crosssectional study of prognostic indicators related to end-of-life trajectories

Objectives: 2 innovative concepts have lately been developed to radically improve the care of patients with advanced chronic conditions (PACC): early identification of palliative care (PC) needs and the 3 end-of-life trajectories in chronic illnesses (acute, intermittent and gradual dwindling). It i...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Amblàs-Novellas, Jordi, Murray, Scott A., Espaulella Panicot, Joan, Martori, Joan Carles, Oller, Ramon, Martínez-Muñoz, Marisa, Molist Brunet, Núria, Blay Pueyo, Carles, Gómez-Batiste, Xavier
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2016
País:España
Institución:UVic-UCC
Repositorio:RiUVic. Repositori institucional de la UVic-UCC
OAI Identifier:oai:dspace.uvic.cat:10854/5038
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10854/5038
https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2016-012340
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Càncer -- Tractament pal·liatiu
Càncer -- Pacients
Tractament pal·liatiu
Malalts crònics
Descripción
Sumario:Objectives: 2 innovative concepts have lately been developed to radically improve the care of patients with advanced chronic conditions (PACC): early identification of palliative care (PC) needs and the 3 end-of-life trajectories in chronic illnesses (acute, intermittent and gradual dwindling). It is not clear (1) what indicators work best for this early identification and (2) if specific clinical indicators exist for each of these trajectories. The objectives of this study are to explore these 2 issues. Setting: 3 primary care services, an acute care hospital, an intermediate care centre and 4 nursing homes in a mixed urban–rural district in Barcelona, Spain. Participants: 782 patients (61.5% women) with a positive NECPAL CCOMS-ICO test, indicating they might benefit from a PC approach. Outcome measures: The characteristics and distribution of the indicators of the NECPAL CCOMSICO tool are analysed with respect to the 3 trajectories and have been arranged by domain (functional, nutritional and cognitive status, emotional problems, geriatric syndromes, social vulnerability and others) and according to their static (severity) and dynamic (progression) properties. Results: The common indicators associated with early end-of-life identification are functional (44.3%) and nutritional (30.7%) progression, emotional distress (21.9%) and geriatric syndromes (15.7% delirium, 11.2% falls). The rest of the indicators showed differences in the associations per illness trajectories (p<0.05). 48.2% of the total cohort was identified as advanced frailty patients with no advanced disease criteria. Conclusions: Dynamic indicators are present in the 3 trajectories and are especially useful to identify PACC for a progressive PC approach purpose. Most of the other indicators are typically associated with a specific trajectory. These findings can help clinicians improve the identification of patients for a palliative approach.