The ProGas study results show that three methods of gastrostomy are equally good in terms of complications and survival in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
A population-based study shows that patients with schizophrenia are more likely to die in a nursing home than mentally healthy individuals, raising questions about the adequacy of palliative care they receive in this setting.
Radiotherapy can significantly improve the quality of life of elderly individuals with cancer that has metastasized to the bone, show study results presented at the 2nd European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology Forum in Geneva, Switzerland.
Adult chronic pain grading can be applied in pediatric populations and is associated with a higher probability of patients being recommended for inpatient treatment, study results show.
A Death with Dignity program, in which physicians can assist cancer patients with a prognosis of less than 6 months to end their lives, has been well-accepted by patients and their families, and received growing support from the physicians involved.
Quality and outcomes would likely improve If advanced care planning processes and documentation in residential aged care facilities became standardized, say researchers in
Aggressive treatment for muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) could be being underused, according to a US study that assessed its use among almost 30,000 patients.
Dutch researchers recommend that nurses should be more involved in decision making concerning patients who receive continuous palliative sedation at the end of life.
Use of a modified Blalock Taussig shunt for the treatment of biventricular and univentricular infant hearts is associated with significant mortality and morbidity, indicate Swiss study results.
Having a hematologic cancer or being single, widowed, or divorced, reduces cancer patients’ chances for dying at home or in a hospice, study findings show.
Women with advanced breast cancer adapt to their emotional and spiritual symptoms despite reporting poor physical functioning and pain compared with women who have local or regional disease, indicate US study results.
Conducting advanced care planning during the last year of life is not only feasible but results in three-quarters of patients dying in their preferred location, show UK study results.
The rate of referrals to palliative or supportive care services for patients with acute leukemia is low, despite this population reporting a high burden of physical and psychological symptoms, show Canadian study results.
Patients treated for heart failure only receive palliative care consultations in the late stage of their illness, suggesting a reactive rather than proactive approach to care, say US researchers.
While the overall rate of radiotherapy use among patients with metastatic cancer in their last year of life was stable between 2000 and 2007, the use of advanced techniques increased during the period, show US study results.
An overwhelming majority of UK doctors believe that the Liverpool care pathway represents the best practice for care of a dying patient, according to an email survey with over 600 respondents.
Individuals who survive cancer are significantly more likely to develop severe persistent fatigue a year after treatment if they were fatigued before and shortly after treatment, indicate Dutch study findings.