Observational studyBMC palliative care2023
Physiotherapy applied to palliative care patients: a descriptive practice-based study.
Observational study in BMC palliative care, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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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.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Individualized Physiotherapy Improves Quality of Life and Symptom Burden in Advanced Cancer: A Quasi-Experimental Study.Physiotherapy research international : the journal for researchers and clinicians in physical therapy · 2026Article
- Validating Mini Nutritional Assessment-Short Form thresholds for postoperative mortality and complications in geriatric hip fracture patients with compromised nutritional status.Joint diseases and related surgery · 2026Article
- Health-related quality of life in palliative care: determinants identified in a hospital-based observational study.BMC palliative care · 2025Observational
- Artificial Intelligence in Exercise Prescription in Palliative Care: Perceptions and Ethical Issues.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Physiotherapy Intervention for Promoting Comfort in Palliative Care Patients: A Focus Group Study.Cancers · 2025Article
- Article
- Primary healthcare professionals' knowledge and self-efficacy on palliative care.Revista brasileira de enfermagem · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundOver the last few years, the presence of physiotherapists in Palliative Care Units (PCU) has considerably grown based on evidence from studies supporting the use of non-pharmacological measures as part of Palliative Care (PC) treatments. However, more accumulated data are needed to definitively establish its added value. The present study describes the type of patients receiving physiotherapy in a PCU and the benefits obtained in relation to their degree of functional dependence.
methodsAn observational, prospective, descriptive, practice-based study was undertaken involving patients admitted to the PCU of Fundación Instituto San José (Madrid, Spain), who according to the PCU´s clinical practice, met the criteria for physiotherapy intervention. Daily clinical practice was unchanged for study reasons. Participants were assessed prior to initiating and at the end of the physiotherapy program using the following standard scales: the Barthel Index, the Functional Ambulation Categories scale, the Palliative Performance Scale, and the Braden scale. A descriptive analysis was performed and scale scores prior to and after treatment were compared using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Significance was set at 0.05.
resultsA total of 63 patients were included (mean age 71.98 ± 12.72; 61.9% males). Fifty-eight patients (92.1%) were oncological patients; of them, 35 (60.3%) had metastases. Prior to treatment, 28 (44.4%) participants had total dependence according to the Barthel index, and 37 (58.7%) were non-functional ambulator according to the FAC scale. At the end of treatment, the number of patients with total dependence decreased to 15 (23.8%) and those non-functional ambulator to 12 (19.0%).
conclusionsPatients who benefited from physical therapy during their admission to our PCU were predominantly males with oncological processes, mainly lung cancer. PC including physiotherapy improved their functionality, independence and skills for activities of daily living in this sample of PCU patients.
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