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Although general practice is an ideal setting for ensuring timely initiation of advance care planning (ACP) in people with chronic life-limiting illness, evidence on the effectiveness of ACP in general practice and how it can be implemented is lacking. This study aims to evaluate feasibility and acceptability of study procedures and intervention components of an intervention to facilitate the initiation of ACP in general practice for people with chronic life-limiting illness.
Pilot cluster-randomised controlled trial testing a complex ACP intervention in general practice versus usual care (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02775032). We used a mixed methods approach using detailed documentation of the recruitment process, questionnaires and semi-structured interviews.
A total of 25 general practitioners (GPs) and 38 patients were enrolled in the study. The intervention was acceptable to GPs and patients, with GPs valuing the interactive training and patients finding ACP conversations useful. However, we found a numo test its effectiveness.Intervention for smoking cessation in a palliative care setting is not considered to be a standard practise. However, palliative care should support life and improve its quality and be able to approach the patient from a psychosocial perspective. This article discusses the smoking cessation intervention provided in a palliative care setting for an oncology patient. Making patients quit tobacco products in palliative care can increase the effectiveness of cancer treatment as well as the motivation level of the patient.
To analyse healthcare utilisation and costs in the last year of life in England, and to study variation by cause of death, region of patient residence and socioeconomic status.
This is a retrospective cohort study. Individuals aged 60 years and over (N=108 510) who died in England between 2010 and 2017 were included in the study.
Healthcare utilisation and costs in the last year of life increased with proximity to death, particularly in the last month of life. The mean total costs were higher among males (£8089) compared with females (£6898) and declined with age at death (£9164 at age 60-69 to £5228 at age 90+) with inpatient care accounting for over 60% of total costs. Costs decline with age at death (0.92, 95% CI 0.88 to 0.95, p<0.0001 for age group 90+ compared with to the reference category age group 60-69) and were lower among females (0.91, 95% CI 0.90 to 0.92, p<0.0001 compared with males). Costs were higher (1.09, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.14, p<0.0001) in London compared with other regions.
Healthcare utilisation and costs in the last year of life increase with proximity to death, particularly in the last month of life. Finer geographical data and information on healthcare supply would allow further investigating whether people receiving more planned care by primary care and or specialist palliative care towards the end of life require less acute care.
Healthcare utilisation and costs in the last year of life increase with proximity to death, particularly in the last month of life. 4-Hydroxytamoxifen Finer geographical data and information on healthcare supply would allow further investigating whether people receiving more planned care by primary care and or specialist palliative care towards the end of life require less acute care.
Cognitive impairment is a key cause of disability after traumatic brain injury (TBI) but relationships with overall functioning in daily life are often modest. The aim is to examine cognition at different levels of function and identify domains associated with disability.
1554 patients with mild-to-severe TBI were assessed at 6 months post injury on the Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended (GOSE), the Short Form-12v2 and a battery of cognitive tests. Outcomes across GOSE categories were compared using analysis of covariance adjusting for age, sex and education.
Overall effect sizes were small to medium, and greatest for tests involving processing speed (
0.057-0.067) and learning and memory (
0.048-0.052). Deficits in cognitive performance were particularly evident in patients who were dependent (GOSE 3 or 4) or who were unable to participate in one or more major life activities (GOSE 5). At higher levels of function (GOSE 6-8), cognitive performance was surprisingly similar across categories. There were decreases in performance even in patients reporting complete recovery without significant symptoms. Medium to large effect sizes were present for summary measures of cognition (
0.111), mental health (
0.131) and physical health (
0.252).
This large-scale study provides novel insights into cognitive performance at different levels of disability and highlights the importance of processing speed in function in daily life. At upper levels of outcome, any influence of cognition on overall function is markedly attenuated and differences in mental health are salient.
This large-scale study provides novel insights into cognitive performance at different levels of disability and highlights the importance of processing speed in function in daily life. At upper levels of outcome, any influence of cognition on overall function is markedly attenuated and differences in mental health are salient.
Late onset depression (LOD) may precede the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease (PD) or dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). We aimed to determine the rate of clinical and imaging features associated with prodromal PD/DLB in patients with LOD.
In a cross-sectional design, 36 patients with first onset of a depressive disorder (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV criteria) diagnosed after the age of 55 (LOD group) and 30 healthy controls (HC) underwent a detailed clinical assessment. In addition, 28/36 patients with LOD and 20/30 HC underwent a head MRI and 29/36 and 25/30, respectively, had dopamine transporter imaging by
I-ioflupane single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging. Image analysis of both scans was performed by a rater blind to the participant group. Results of clinical assessments and imaging results were compared between the two groups.
Patients with LOD (n=36) had significantly worse scores than HC (n=30) on the PD screening questionnaire (mean (SD) 1.8 (1.9) vs 0.