Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39054518›Full record

ArticleBMC palliative care2024

Dementia patients in palliative care according to data from the German National Hospice and Palliative Care Register (2009-2021).

Carolin Donath, Christoph Ostgathe, Maria Heckel

Abstract read
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
–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. Article
  2. Article
  3. Review
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

3 authors.

Carolin DonathCenter for Health Services Research in Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Schwabachanlage 6, 91054, Erlangen, Germany.
Christoph OstgatheDepartment of Palliative Medicine & Comprehensive Cancer Center, CCC Erlangen - EMN, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Krankenhausstraße 12, 91054, Erlangen, Germany.
Maria HeckelDepartment of Palliative Medicine & Comprehensive Cancer Center, CCC Erlangen - EMN, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Krankenhausstraße 12, 91054, Erlangen, Germany. maria.heckel@uk-erlangen.de.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPeople with dementia are less in focus of palliative care research than other patient groups even though the awareness of their palliative and end-of-life care needs is rising. Empirical data analyses on people with dementia in palliative care services are lacking.

aimTo explore the prevalence of dementia diagnoses as per the ICD criteria among users of various palliative care settings and to compare use of palliative services, care pathways, and outcomes in people with and without a dementia diagnosis.

designWe conducted retrospective analysis of dementia diagnoses as per ICD (F00-F03/G30) in the German National Hospice and Palliative Care Register between 2009 and 2021. The analysis used methods of descriptive and inferential statistics, including the Bonferroni correction for alpha error inflation. SETTING/

participantsWe limited the analysis to the subsample of people aged over 64.

resultsThe prevalence of dementia in the different settings of palliative care was lower than in the age-comparable population: Of the 69,116 data sets included in the analysis, a small minority (3.3%) was coded with dementia as the principal diagnosis. Among patients on inpatient palliative care wards, 0.8% (148 of 19,161) had a dementia diagnosis, as did 2.2% (52 of 2,380) of those under hospital palliative care support teams and 4.3% (2,014 of 46,803) of those receiving specialized palliative care at home.

conclusionsThe records of the German National Hospice and Palliative Care Register suggest that the prevalence of dementia is lower than one might expect from general population data, though numbers are in line with international studies on proportion of dementia patients receiving palliative care. Future research could usefully examine whether this discrepancy stems either from omissions in coding dementia as patients' principal diagnosis respectively from lapses in documentation of a dementia diagnosis previously made, or from barriers to accessing palliative care services or even displays being excluded from palliative care when trying to access it.

trial registrationNo registration.

Indexed as

DementiaPalliative CareRegistriesAgedAged, 80 and overFemaleGermanyHospice CareHumansMaleMiddle AgedPrevalenceRetrospective StudiesClinical codingCognition disordersDementiaDocumentationHealth services accessibilityHealth Services ResearchPalliative CarePalliative Medicine

Identifiers

PMID39054518
PMCPMC11271063

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Registered trials

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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.