Comparing Symptom Assessments by Family Members and Healthcare Professionals in End-of-Life Care
Author Information
Author(s): Lisa Martinsson, Margareta Brännström, Sofia Andersson
Primary Institution: Umeå University
Hypothesis
How do family members' assessments of symptoms compare to those of healthcare professionals during the final week of life?
Conclusion
Family members and healthcare professionals have differing views on patients' symptoms at the end of life, highlighting the need for better communication.
Supporting Evidence
- The agreement between family members and healthcare professionals was poor for pain and confusion, but fair for anxiety.
- Healthcare professionals reported complete symptom relief more often than family members did.
- Communication between family members and healthcare professionals could help bridge differences in symptom assessments.
Takeaway
When someone is dying, family members and doctors often see their symptoms differently, so it's important for them to talk to each other.
Methodology
Data from the Swedish Register of Palliative Care was analyzed to compare symptom assessments by family members and healthcare professionals using Cohen’s kappa.
Potential Biases
Potential recall bias due to the time lag between the patient's death and family members' responses.
Limitations
The study relied on retrospective data, which may introduce recall bias, and lacked detailed demographic information about family members.
Participant Demographics
Mean age of patients was 76.5 years, with 50% female; most patients died from cancer.
Statistical Information
Confidence Interval
95% CI for kappa values ranged from 0.01 to 0.39.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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