Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24419639›Full record

ArticleBMJ case reports2014

Shared decision-making at end-of-life is aided by graphical trending of illness severity.

David B Bittleman, Alan B Solinger, G Duncan Finlay

Open access · greenAbstract readCase Reports
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ case reports, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
0.6field-weighted citation impact, top 23% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

David B BittlemanIntercoastal Medical Group, Sarasota, Florida, USA.
Alan B Solinger
G Duncan Finlay
Florida Hospital Medical Group · USRoth and Rau (Germany) · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The Rothman Index (RI) gives a visual picture of patient's condition and progress for the physician and family to view together. This case demonstrates how the RI graph facilitates physician-family communication. An 85-year-old man with normal pressure hydrocephalus and ventriculoperitoneal shunt presented with a subdural haematoma. He required a temporoparietal craniotomy and evacuation of left subdural haematoma, followed by care in an intensive inpatient rehabilitation unit. His course was complicated by aspiration pneumonia, dehydration, renal failure and phenytoin toxicity. During hospitalisation, the patient's RI graph was reviewed daily with his family. The RI provided an unambiguous visualisation of the trend of patient acuity, which depicted the patient's persistent decline in health, and made clear to the family the situation of the patient. This clarity was instrumental in prompting frank discussions of prognosis and consideration of comfort measures, resulting in timely transfer to hospice.

Indexed as

CommunicationComputer GraphicsDecision MakingHospice CarePatient AcuityAged, 80 and overAnticonvulsantsDehydrationHematoma, Subdural, IntracranialHumansMalePhenytoinPneumonia, AspirationProfessional-Family RelationsRenal InsufficiencyAnticonvulsantsPhenytoin

Identifiers

PMID24419639
PMCPMC3902395
OpenAlexW2141650343

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.