Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38877598›Full record

ArticleArchives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique2024

End-of-life care in German and Dutch nursing homes: a cross-sectional study on nursing home staff's perspective in 2022.

Ann-Kathrin Bauer, Alexander Maximilian Fassmer, Sytse U Zuidema, Sarah I M Janus, Falk Hoffmann

Erratum issuedAbstract read
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Article in Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Ann-Kathrin BauerDepartment of Health Service Research, Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany. ann-kathrin.bauer1@uni-oldenburg.de.
Alexander Maximilian FassmerDepartment of Health Service Research, Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany.
Sytse U ZuidemaDepartment of Primary and Long-Term Care, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Sarah I M JanusDepartment of Primary and Long-Term Care, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Falk HoffmannDepartment of Health Service Research, Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAs society ages, the need for nursing home care is steadily increasing and end-of-life care of nursing home residents has become increasingly more important. End-of-life care differs between Germany and the neighbouring Netherlands. For example, a much higher proportion of German compared to Dutch nursing home residents is hospitalized at the end of life. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate end-of-life care in German and Dutch nursing homes.

methodsIn this cross-sectional study, a postal survey was sent to 600 randomly selected German and Dutch nursing homes each and addressed to the nursing staff management. Participants were asked to estimate the percentage of nursing home residents whose wishes for emergency situations (e.g. cardiopulmonary resuscitation) are known and to indicate whether facilities offer advanced care planning (ACP). They were also asked to estimate whether general practitioners (GPs)/elder care physicians (ECPs) and nursing home staff are usually well trained for end-of-life care. Finally, participants were asked to estimate the proportion of nursing home residents who die in hospital rather than in the nursing home and to rate overall end-of-life care provision.

resultsA total of 301 questionnaires were included in the analysis; 199 from German and 102 from Dutch nursing homes (response 33.2% and 17.0%). German participants estimated that 20.5% of residents die in the hospital in contrast to the Dutch estimation of 5.9%. In German nursing homes, ACP is offered less often (39.2% in Germany, 75.0% in the Netherlands) and significantly fewer wishes for emergency situations of residents were known than in Dutch nursing homes. GPs were considered less well-trained for end-of-life care in Germany. The most important measures to improve end-of-life care were comparable in both countries.

conclusionDifferences in (the delivery and knowledge of) end-of-life care between Germany and the Netherlands could be observed in this study. These could be due to structural differences (ECPs available 24/7 in the majority of Dutch nursing homes) and cultural differences (more discussion on quality of life versus life-sustaining treatments in the Netherlands). Due to these differences, a country-specific approach is necessary to improve end-of-life care.

Indexed as

End-of-life careGermanyNursing home residentsNursing staffThe Netherlands

Identifiers

PMID38877598
PMCPMC11177492

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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.