Publications by authors named "Huei Yaw Wu"
Objective: This study aims to quantify medical care utilisation, and to describe the cost trajectories of individuals with advanced illnesses in the last-year of life, differentiated by advanced cancer, end-stage organ failure and progressive neurological disorders.
Methods: This retrospective database study included decedents who had previous inpatient or outpatient encounters at a public hospital in Singapore. Patients with advanced diseases were identified based on diagnostic codes and clinical criteria.
Objective: Difficulties with prognostication prevent more patients with advanced dementia from receiving timely palliative support. The aim of this study is to develop and validate a prognostic model for 6-month and 1-year mortality in home-dwelling patients with advanced dementia.
Design: Prospective cohort study.
Deaths in dementia: a scoping review of prognostic variables.
BMJ Support Palliat Care
September 2021
Objectives: To identify the types of factors included in research examining mortality in patients with dementia, and to stratify the identified factors by care settings.
Design: We systematically searched PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO and the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) databases, and identified grey literature from the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations, Open Grey and Grey Literature Report. Two authors independently screened for eligibility of studies.
Objectives: To determine the economic benefit of an integrated home-based palliative care programme for advanced dementia (Programme Dignity), evaluation is required. This study aimed to estimate Programme Dignity's average monthly cost from a provider's perspective; and compare healthcare utilisation and costs of programme patients with controls, accounting for enrolment duration.
Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study.
Context: Despite the preference to pass away at home, many dementia patients die in institutions, resulting in a paucity of studies examining end-of-life care outcomes in the home setting.
Objective: The objective of this study was to identify modifiable factors associated with the comfort of dementia patients dying at home and families' satisfaction with care.
Methods: This is a prospective cohort study conducted from October 2014 to April 2019 in Singapore.
Objectives: We established an integrated palliative homecare programme for advanced dementia. This study explores patients' symptoms and quality-of-life and their association with enteral feeding, evaluates the impact of the programme on these parameters and examines familial caregiver burden.
Methods: This is a prospective cohort study.
Background: Many middle- and high-income countries face the challenge of meeting preferences for home deaths. A better understanding of associated factors could support the design and implementation of policies and practices to enable dying at home. This study aims to identify factors associated with the place of death in Singapore, a country with a strong sense of filial piety.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To develop and validate a simple prognostic tool for early prediction of survival of patients with advanced cancer in a tertiary care setting.
Design: Prospective cohort study with 2 years' follow-up.
Setting: Single tertiary teaching hospital in Singapore.
Background: Advanced cancer significantly impacts quality of life of patients and families as they cope with symptom burden, treatment decision-making, uncertainty and costs of treatment. In Singapore, information about the experiences of advanced cancer patients and families and the financial cost they incur for end-of-life care is lacking. Understanding of this information is needed to inform practice and policy to ensure continuity and affordability of care at the end of life.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Prognostic challenges hinder the identification of patients with advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) for timely palliative interventions. We postulate that a two-minute derivative (two-minute walking distance [2MWD]) of a standard six-minute walk test (6MWT) can identify frail subjects with poorer survival for early palliative intervention. The primary outcome of interest is mortality at 18 months.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Terminally ill patients at the end-of-life do transit between care settings due to their complex care needs. Problems of care fragmentation could result in poor quality of care.
Aim: We aimed to evaluate the impact of an integrated hospice home care programme on acute care service usage and on the share of home deaths.
Background: The Palliative Performance Scale (PPS) on admission is a predictor of survival. However, it is not highly discriminating for mid-range scores. 'PPS Change' between two time points considers the disease trajectory, and may improve the scale's utility.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Physicians caring for elderly people encounter death and dying more frequently than their colleagues in most other disciplines. Therefore we sought to examine the end-of-life content in popular geriatric textbooks and determine their usefulness in helping geriatricians manage patients at the end of their lives.
Methods: Five popular geriatric textbooks were chosen.