Publications by authors named "Kim N Wendt"
Background: This study prospectively evaluated distress, depressive and anxiety symptoms as well as associated factors in family caregivers (FC) of advanced cancer patients at initiation of specialist inpatient palliative care.
Methods: Within 72 h after the patient's first admission, FCs were asked to complete German versions of the Distress Thermometer, Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire depression module 9-item scale (PHQ-9) for outcome measure. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to identify associated factors.
Article Synopsis
- The study aimed to explore how bereaved family caregivers of patients with advanced cancer experience distress, anxiety, depression, and overall quality of life after the loss.
- A total of 160 family caregivers participated, reporting high levels of emotional distress, with 82% experiencing significant issues such as sadness and exhaustion, and 27% showing moderate to severe anxiety symptoms.
- The findings indicated that the mental health challenges faced prior to the patient's death are strong predictors of postloss distress, highlighting the need for targeted interventions in palliative care settings.
Article Synopsis
- * The tool evaluates various aspects of patient health and needs through ten items in five domains and has shown strong correlation with an established outcome assessment instrument called the Integrated Palliative Outcome Scale (IPOS).
- * Results indicated that about 80.8% of patients identified with a score of 5 or higher were in need of SPC, highlighting the tool’s effectiveness in recognizing those who might benefit from additional support in their care.
Background: Patient-reported outcomes are usually considered to be the gold standard assessment. However, for the assessment of quality of dying and death, ratings of informal caregivers (ICGs) or health-care professionals (HCPs) must be considered for ethical and methodological reasons. This article aims to present results of ICGs' and HCPs' estimates of the questionnaire, quality of dying and death (QoDD) on patients who died in PCUs and to compare the level of agreement of both ratings/raters.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF