Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34666732›Full record

ArticleBMC palliative care2021

Prognosis does not change the landscape: palliative home care clients experience high rates of pain and nausea, regardless of prognosis.

Nicole Williams, Kirsten Hermans, Tara Stevens, John P Hirdes, Anja Declercq, Joachim Cohen, Dawn M Guthrie

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 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
1.6field-weighted citation impact, top 17% 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

5 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.

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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

7 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Nicole WilliamsDepartment of Kinesiology and Physical Education, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Ave W, Waterloo, ON, Canada. nwilliams@wlu.ca.
Kirsten HermansEnd-of-life Care Research Group, University of Brussels (VUB) and Ghent University (UGent), Laarbeeklaan 103, 1090, Brussels, Belgium.
Tara StevensDepartment of Kinesiology and Physical Education, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Ave W, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
John P HirdesSchool of Public Health and Health Systems, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave W, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
Anja DeclercqUniversity of Leuven (KU Leuven), LUCAS, Minderbroedersstraat 8 box 5310, 3000, Leuven, Belgium.
Joachim CohenEnd-of-life Care Research Group, University of Brussels (VUB) and Ghent University (UGent), Laarbeeklaan 103, 1090, Brussels, Belgium.
Dawn M GuthrieDepartment of Kinesiology and Physical Education, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Ave W, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
Wilfrid Laurier University · CAKU Leuven · BEGhent University · BEUniversity of Waterloo · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMost individuals who typically receive palliative care (PC) tend to have cancer and a relatively short prognosis (< 6 months). People with other life-limiting illnesses can also benefit from a palliative care approach. However, little is known about those who receive palliative home care in Ontario, Canada's largest province. To address this gap, the goal of this project was to understand the needs, symptoms and potential differences between those with a shorter (< 6 months) and longer prognosis (6+ months) for individuals receiving PC in the community.

methodsA cross-sectional analysis was conducted using interRAI Palliative Care (interRAI PC) assessment data collected between 2011 and 2018. Individuals with a shorter prognosis (< 6 months; n = 48,019 or 64.1%) were compared to those with a longer prognosis (6+ months; n = 26,945) across several clinical symptoms. The standardized difference (stdiff), between proportions, was calculated to identify statistically meaningful differences between those with a shorter and longer prognosis. Values of the stdiff of 0.2 or higher (absolute value) indicated a statistically significant difference.

resultsOverall, cancer was the most prevalent diagnosis (83.2%). Those with a shorter prognosis were significantly more likely to experience fatigue (75.3% vs. 59.5%; stdiff = 0.34) and shortness of breath at rest (22.1% vs. 13.4%; stdiff = 0.23). However, the two groups were similar in terms of severe pain (73.5% vs. 66.5%; stdiff = - 0.15), depressive symptoms (13.2% vs. 10.7%; stdiff = 0.08) and nausea (35.7% vs. 29.4%; stdiff = 0.13).

conclusionsThese results highlight the importance of earlier identification of individuals who could benefit from a palliative approach to their care as individuals with a longer prognosis also experience high rates of symptoms such as pain and nausea. Providing PC earlier in the illness trajectory has the potential to improve an individual's overall quality of life throughout the duration of their illness.

Indexed as

Home Care ServicesPalliative CareCross-Sectional StudiesHumansNauseaPainPrognosisQuality of LifeHome careinterRAIPalliative carePrognosis

Identifiers

PMID34666732
PMCPMC8527809
OpenAlexW3205242132

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.