Purposes: Hospice programs in Korea have been largely based on volunteer activity, religious services, or social services. Recent government policy of designating medically based inpatient palliative care services and per diem payment system made it necessary to monitor the quality of these services. We examined the variation in the process and outcomes of palliative care services, using 2009 data obtained from the Korean Terminal Cancer Patient Information System.

Methods: Data were collected from 3,867 patients with terminal cancer who were registered in 34 inpatient palliative care centers designated by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. We used the mean length of stay and the subsequent place of care as process indicators, and change in average pain score as an outcome indicator. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and analysis of covariance for the case-mix adjustment.

Results: There were considerable variations among services with regards to the mean length of stay (i.e., 10.5 to 32.6 days for each admission) and subsequent place of care (i.e., 39.8% to 92.6% ended in death at the first admission), even after stratification by service level. The mean change in average pain score varied from -1.48 to 2.16, and remained significant after case-mix adjustment.

Conclusion: We found considerable variations among palliative care services with regard to the mean length of stay, subsequent place of care, and change in average pain score. Continued assessment of the variations in process and outcomes will assist in developing the national benchmarking system and the evaluation of the government policy.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00520-011-1115-yDOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

palliative care
20
care services
16
inpatient palliative
12
length stay
12
subsequent place
12
place care
12
change average
12
average pain
12
pain score
12
variations process
8

Similar Publications

Background: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive neuromodulation method. Short-term tDCS protocols have shown positive effects on cognitive outcomes in Alzheimer's Disease (AD) populations. Less is known about the long-term benefits of tDCS on cognition in AD.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Clinical Manifestations.

Alzheimers Dement

December 2024

Ambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom.

Background: People with dementia frequently develop behavioural and psychological symptoms, sometimes necessitating care in specialist dementia mental health wards. There has been little research on their life expectancy following admission or need for palliative care. The work presented here explores the mortality of these patients and whether this can be predicted at their time of admission to the ward.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Deprescribing antihypertensives is of growing interest in geriatric medicine, yet the impact on functional status is unknown. We emulated a target trial of deprescribing antihypertensive medications compared with continued use on functional status measured by activities of daily living (ADL) in a long-term care population.

Methods: We included 12,238 Veteran Affairs long-term care residents age 65+ who had a stay ≥ 12 weeks between 2006 and 2019.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Study Design: This was a narrative review.

Objective: The objective of this review was to summarize the current evidence and knowledge gaps regarding anesthesia and pain management for scoliosis surgery, including multimodal analgesia, and identify the best anesthetic approach to scoliosis surgery that ensures patient safety and pain relief even in the postoperative period, with minimal influence on SSEP monitoring.

Summary Of Background Data: Spinal surgeries and fusions for scoliosis are associated with high pain levels.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Parenteral lipid emulsions: the state of the art.

Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care

December 2024

Pain Management and Palliative Care, Department of Anesthesia, Intensive Care and Emergency, Molinette Hospital, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.

Purpose Of Review: Several types of injectable lipid emulsions (ILEs) have become available for parenteral nutrition. The purpose of this review is to highlight the most recent and interesting articles in the field of ILEs.

Recent Findings: Recent literature has compared ILEs in various clinical scenarios (e.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!