Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33714277›Full record

ArticleBMC palliative care2021

Enhanced home palliative care could reduce emergency department visits due to non-organic dyspnea among cancer patients: a retrospective cohort study.

Hua-Shui Hsu, Tai-Hsien Wu, Chin-Yu Lin, Ching-Chun Lin, Tsung-Po Chen, Wen-Yuan Lin

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC palliative care, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
15citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
3.5field-weighted citation impact, top 7% 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

15 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 25 citations in OpenAlex.

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  13. Current Management Options for Dyspnea in Cancer Patients.Current treatment options in oncology · 2023
    Review
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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

6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Hua-Shui HsuDepartment of Family Medicine and Social Medicine, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
Tai-Hsien WuDepartment of Family Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
Chin-Yu LinDepartment of Nursing, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
Ching-Chun LinDepartment of Family Medicine and Social Medicine, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
Tsung-Po ChenDepartment of Family Medicine and Social Medicine, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
Wen-Yuan LinDepartment of Family Medicine and Social Medicine, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan. wylin@mail.cmu.edu.tw.
China Medical University · TWChina Medical University Hospital · TWTaichung Hospital · TW

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundDyspnea is a common trigger of emergency department visits among terminally ill and cancer patients. Frequent emergency department (ED) visits at the end of life are an indicator of poor-quality care. We examined emergency department visit rates due to dyspnea symptoms among palliative patients under enhanced home palliative care.

methodsOur home palliative care team is responsible for patient management by palliative care specialists, residents, home care nurses, social workers, and chaplains. We enhanced home palliative care visits from 5 days a week to 7 days a week, corresponding to one to two extra visits per week based on patient needs, to develop team-based medical services and formulate standard operating procedures for dyspnea care.

resultsOur team cared for a total of 762 patients who exhibited 512 ED visits, 178 of which were due to dyspnea (mean ± SD age, 70.4 ± 13.0 years; 49.4% male). Dyspnea (27.8%) was the most common reason recorded for ED visits, followed by pain (19.0%), GI symptoms (15.7%), and fever (15.3%). The analysis of Group A versus Group B revealed that the proportion of nonfamily workers (42.9% vs. 19.4%) and family members (57.1% vs. 80.6%) acting as caregivers differed significantly (P < 0.05). Compared to the ED visits of the Group A, the risk was decreased by 30.7% in the Group B (P < 0.05).

conclusionsThis study proves that enhanced home palliative care with two additional days per week and formulated standard operating procedures for dyspnea could significantly reduce the rate of ED visits due to non-organic dyspnea during the last 6 months of life.

Indexed as

Home Care ServicesNeoplasmsAgedDyspneaEmergency Service, HospitalFemaleHumansMalePalliative CareRetrospective StudiesDyspneaEmergency departmentHome palliative care

Identifiers

PMID33714277
PMCPMC7956106
OpenAlexW3138105876

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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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.