ArticleIrish journal of medical science2013
Pharmacological management of co-morbid conditions at the end of life: is less more?
Article in Irish journal of medical science, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed.
- Associations Between Polypharmacy, Symptom Burden, and Quality of Life in Patients with Advanced, Life-Limiting Illness.Journal of general internal medicine · 2019Trial
- Pharmacological Prescription at the End of Life: Quality Assessment in the Transition of Care to a Community Palliative Care Support Team.Pharmaceutics · 2024Article
- Impact of palliative care at end-of-life Covid-19 patients - a small-scale pioneering experience.BMC palliative care · 2024Article
- Use of preventive medication and supplements in general practice in patients in their last year of life: a Retrospective cohort study.BMC primary care · 2023Article
- Potentially inappropriate prescribing in older adults with cancer receiving specialist palliative care: a retrospective observational study.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2023Observational
- Prescription trends at the end of life in a palliative care unit: observational study.BMC palliative care · 2022Observational
- Prescribing practices, patterns, and potential harms in patients receiving palliative care: A systematic scoping review.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2021Article
- Use of antithrombotics at the end of life: an in-depth chart review study.BMC palliative care · 2021Article
- Impact of deprescribing dual-purpose medications on patient-related outcomes for older adults near end-of-life: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Therapeutic advances in drug safety · 2021Review
- Discontinuation of medications at the end of life: A population study in Belgium, based on linked administrative databases.British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2019Article
- A research study review of effectiveness of treatments for psychiatric conditions common to end-stage cancer patients: needs assessment for future research and an impassioned plea.BMC psychiatry · 2018Article
- Polypharmacy in the terminal stage of cancer.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2016Article
- Medication use during end-of-life care in a palliative care centre.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2015Article
- Decision making about change of medication for comorbid disease at the end of life: an integrative review.Drugs & aging · 2014Review
- Oxidative stress level is not associated with survival in terminally ill cancer patients: a preliminary study.BMC palliative care · 2014Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCo-morbid conditions (CMCs) are present in over half of patients with cancer over 50 years of age. As life-limiting illnesses progress, the benefits and burdens of treatments for CMCs become unclear. Relevant issues include physiological changes in advanced illness, time-to-benefit of medications, burden of medications, and psychological impact of discontinuing medications. Optimal prescribing is unclear due to lack of evidence.
objectivesThe objectives are to determine prescribing practice, for CMCs, in a single SPC service.
methodsPatients referred to a single specialist palliative care (SPC) service, who died between 1/8/2010 and 30/9/2012, were identified. Medical notes were reviewed, and data collected on prescribing at 3 months, 1 month, and 1 week prior to death.
resultsFifty-two patients with a median age of 74.5 years were identified; 41 patients (79%) had a malignant condition. 50% died in hospital. Patients had a mean of three CMCs. A mean of 4.6 medications for CMCs were prescribed to patients over 65. A mean of 10 medications in total were prescribed at 1 week before death. One week before death, one-third of patients continued to be prescribed aspirin, and over one-quarter a statin.
conclusionsTotal medication burden increases as time to death shortens, due to continuation of medications for CMCs, and addition of medications for symptom control. There is a need for research to demonstrate the impact of polypharmacy at the end of life, in order to formulate a framework to guide practice.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.