Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38515049›Full record

ArticleBMC palliative care2024

Noninvasive monitoring technologies to identify discomfort and distressing symptoms in persons with limited communication at the end of life: a scoping review.

Jingyuan Xu, Hanneke J A Smaling, Jan W Schoones, Wilco P Achterberg, Jenny T van der Steen

Open access · goldAbstract readScoping Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC palliative care, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
4.6field-weighted citation impact, top 5% 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

3 citing papers in PubMed, 11 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Palliative medicine · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. 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

5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Jingyuan XuDepartment of Public Health and Primary Care, Leiden University Medical Center, Hippocratespad 21, Gebouw 3, Postzone V0-P, P.O. Box 9600, 2300 RC, Leiden, The Netherlands. j.xu@lumc.nl.
Hanneke J A SmalingDepartment of Public Health and Primary Care, Leiden University Medical Center, Hippocratespad 21, Gebouw 3, Postzone V0-P, P.O. Box 9600, 2300 RC, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Jan W SchoonesDirectorate of Research Policy, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Wilco P AchterbergDepartment of Public Health and Primary Care, Leiden University Medical Center, Hippocratespad 21, Gebouw 3, Postzone V0-P, P.O. Box 9600, 2300 RC, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Jenny T van der SteenDepartment of Public Health and Primary Care, Leiden University Medical Center, Hippocratespad 21, Gebouw 3, Postzone V0-P, P.O. Box 9600, 2300 RC, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Leiden University Medical Center · NLRadboud University Medical Center · NL

Funding

European Research Council 771483
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundDiscomfort and distressing symptoms are common at the end of life, while people in this stage are often no longer able to express themselves. Technologies may aid clinicians in detecting and treating these symptoms to improve end-of-life care. This review provides an overview of noninvasive monitoring technologies that may be applied to persons with limited communication at the end of life to identify discomfort.

methodsA systematic search was performed in nine databases, and experts were consulted. Manuscripts were included if they were written in English, Dutch, German, French, Japanese or Chinese, if the monitoring technology measured discomfort or distressing symptoms, was noninvasive, could be continuously administered for 4 hours and was potentially applicable for bed-ridden people. The screening was performed by two researchers independently. Information about the technology, its clinimetrics (validity, reliability, sensitivity, specificity, responsiveness), acceptability, and feasibility were extracted.

resultsOf the 3,414 identified manuscripts, 229 met the eligibility criteria. A variety of monitoring technologies were identified, including actigraphy, brain activity monitoring, electrocardiography, electrodermal activity monitoring, surface electromyography, incontinence sensors, multimodal systems, and noncontact monitoring systems. The main indicators of discomfort monitored by these technologies were sleep, level of consciousness, risk of pressure ulcers, urinary incontinence, agitation, and pain. For the end-of-life phase, brain activity monitors could be helpful and acceptable to monitor the level of consciousness during palliative sedation. However, no manuscripts have reported on the clinimetrics, feasibility, and acceptability of the other technologies for the end-of-life phase.

conclusionsNoninvasive monitoring technologies are available to measure common symptoms at the end of life. Future research should evaluate the quality of evidence provided by existing studies and investigate the feasibility, acceptability, and usefulness of these technologies in the end-of-life setting. Guidelines for studies on healthcare technologies should be better implemented and further developed.

Indexed as

Terminal CareCommunicationDeathHumansPainReproducibility of ResultsDementiaInformation technologyMedical informaticsPalliative care

Identifiers

PMID38515049
PMCPMC10956214
OpenAlexW4393055190

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.