Association between ethnicity and emergency department visits in the last three months of life in England: a retrospective population-based study using electronic health records.

Introduction: Emergency department (ED) visits are distressing yet common in the last months of life and many could be avoided. The association between ethnicity and ED visits in the last months of life has rarely been studied in detail and the intersection with area-based deprivation and other risk factors is not known.

Methods: Population-based, retrospective cohort study, using electronic health records for adults who died from all causes in 2019 and 2020 in England.

Effect of listening to breathing recordings on self-reported breathlessness: a public experiment.

https://bit.ly/3o8py2Q

Deaths at home, area-based deprivation and the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic: An analysis of mortality data across four nations.

Background: The number and proportion of home deaths in the UK increased during the Covid-19 pandemic. It is not known whether these changes were experienced disproportionately by people from different socioeconomic groups.

Aim: To examine the association between home death and socioeconomic position during the Covid-19 pandemic, and how this changed between 2019 and 2020.

Researching minoritised communities in palliative care: An agenda for change.

Background: Palliative care access, experiences and outcomes of care disadvantage those from ethnically diverse, Indigenous, First nation and First people communities. Research into this field of inquiry raises unique theoretical, methodological, and moral issues. Without the critical reflection of methods of study and reporting of findings, researchers may inadvertently compromise their contribution to reducing injustices and perpetuating racism.

The association between socioeconomic position and the symptoms and concerns of hospital inpatients seen by specialist palliative care: Analysis of routinely collected patient data.

Background: Understanding how socioeconomic position influences the symptoms and concerns of patients approaching the end of life is important for planning more equitable care. Data on this relationship is lacking, particularly for patients with non-cancer conditions.

Aim: To analyse the association between socioeconomic position and the symptoms and concerns of older adult patients seen by specialist palliative care.

Communication failures contributing to patient injury in anaesthesia malpractice claims☆.

Background: Communication amongst team members is critical to providing safe, effective medical care. We investigated the role of communication failures in patient injury using the Anesthesia Closed Claims Project database.

Methods: Claims associated with surgical/procedural and obstetric anaesthesia and postoperative pain management for adverse events from 2004 or later were included.

Socioeconomic position and use of hospital-based care towards the end of life: a mediation analysis using the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

Background: Many patients prefer to avoid hospital-based care towards the end of life, yet hospitalisation is common and more likely for people with low socioeconomic position. The reasons underlying this socioeconomic inequality are not well understood. This study investigated health, service access, and social support as potential mediating pathways between socioeconomic position and receipt of hospital-based care towards the end of life.

Indications and patterns of use of benzodiazepines and opioids in severe interstitial lung disease: a population-based longitudinal study.

Background: Despite evidence that opioids might relieve chronic breathlessness, physicians may still be reluctant to prescribe them due to safety concerns. By contrast, benzodiazepine (BDZ) prescribing often seeks to reduce chronic breathlessness despite no evidence of net benefit. Prescribing patterns and indications for these medications in severe interstitial lung disease (ILD) are unknown.

Correction: Socioeconomic position and use of healthcare in the last year of life: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.

Socioeconomic position and use of healthcare in the last year of life: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Low socioeconomic position (SEP) is recognized as a risk factor for worse health outcomes. How socioeconomic factors influence end-of-life care, and the magnitude of their effect, is not understood. This review aimed to synthesise and quantify the associations between measures of SEP and use of healthcare in the last year of life.

Perspectives of patients, family caregivers and health professionals on the use of outcome measures in palliative care and lessons for implementation: a multi-method qualitative study.

Background: Routine use of outcome measures in palliative care is recommended to demonstrate and improve quality of care. The use of outcome measures is relatively recent in UK specialist palliative care services and understanding their use in practice is key to successful implementation. We therefore aimed to explore how patient-centred outcome measures are used in specialist palliative care, and identify key considerations for implementation.

Safety of benzodiazepines and opioids in interstitial lung disease: a national prospective study.

Safety concerns are a barrier to prescribing benzodiazepines (BDZs) and opioids in interstitial lung disease (ILD). We therefore examined the association of BDZs and opioids on risk of admission to hospital and death.We conducted a population-based longitudinal cohort study of fibrotic ILD patients starting long-term oxygen therapy in Sweden between October 2005 and December 2014.

What are the main palliative care symptoms and concerns of older people with multimorbidity?-a comparative cross-sectional study using routinely collected Phase of Illness, Australia-modified Karnofsky Performance Status and Integrated Palliative Care Outcome Scale data.

Background: Older people with multimorbidities are projected to be the main recipients of palliative care in the coming decades. However, because their specific palliative care needs are poorly understood and service response is underdeveloped, older people with multimorbidity are less likely to receive palliative care. Innovative specialist palliative care services are developing to address this gap, but with little underpinning evidence.

Development and validation of a casemix classification to predict costs of specialist palliative care provision across inpatient hospice, hospital and community settings in the UK: a study protocol.

Introduction: Provision of palliative care is inequitable with wide variations across conditions and settings in the UK. Lack of a standard way to classify by case complexity is one of the principle obstacles to addressing this. We aim to develop and validate a casemix classification to support the prediction of costs of specialist palliative care provision.

Phase of Illness in palliative care: Cross-sectional analysis of clinical data from community, hospital and hospice patients.

Background: Phase of Illness describes stages of advanced illness according to care needs of the individual, family and suitability of care plan. There is limited evidence on its association with other measures of symptoms, and health-related needs, in palliative care.

Aims: The aims of the study are as follows.

The Myeloma Patient Outcome Scale is the first quality of life tool developed for clinical use and validated in patients with follicular lymphoma.

Objectives: The development of novel agents and an ageing population has led to an increasing number of patients with follicular lymphoma (FL) living longer with their disease. Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is a priority for patients and should guide clinical decisions. The Myeloma Patient Outcome Scale (MyPOS), originally developed for myeloma, was validated in a cross-sectional survey recruiting 124 FL patients.

Obstetric Anesthesia Liability Concerns.

Obstetric practice carries a high risk of medical liability and involves both obstetricians and anesthesiologists. Analysis of data from the Anesthesia Closed Claims Project database shows an increase in the proportion of anesthesia claims for maternal death and brain damage between the 1990s and 2000 and later, primarily due to hemorrhage. The proportion of claims for newborn brain damage remained unchanged while those for maternal nerve injury and minor injuries decreased.

Using routine data to improve palliative and end of life care.

Palliative and end of life care is essential to healthcare systems worldwide, yet a minute proportion of research funding is spent on palliative and end of life care research. Routinely collected health and social care data provide an efficient and useful opportunity for evaluating and improving care for patients and families. There are excellent examples of routine data research in palliative and end of life care, but routine data resources are widely underutilised.