We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Cookie Policy.

Features Partner Sites Information LinkXpress
Sign In
Advertise with Us

Download Mobile App




Dying Patients' Priorities Differ from Those of Their Caregivers'

By HospiMedica International staff writers
Posted on 14 Apr 2015
Print article
The value people nearing the end place on various aspects of dying suggest their end-of-life preferences should be elicited directly, as opposed to relying on caregiver input, claims a new study.

Researchers at Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School (Duke-NUS, Singapore) and Duke University (Durham, NC, USA) administered surveys to 211 patients with stage IV cancer and their informal caregivers to examine their end-of-life preferences. Participants were asked to choose their most-preferred end-of-life scenarios out of a series of options that varied along key dimensions, including years of life remaining, degree of pain experienced, place of death, level of burden on caregivers, quality of healthcare experience, cost, and source of payment.

The researchers found that patients' willingness to pay to extend their life by one year was valued at USD 13,700, which was lower than their willingness to pay to avoid severe pain (USD 16,390), or to die at home (USD 23,070), and only slightly more than they were willing to pay for a high-quality health-care experience (USD 11,950). Conversely, caregivers had a three-fold greater willingness to pay to extend life by one year and for most of the other features considered than the actual patients themselves. The study was published on March 24, 2015, in Palliative Medicine.

“These results suggest that health insurers and physicians may be putting too much emphasis on life extending treatments for these patients,” concluded senior author Prof. Eric Finkelstein, MD, director of the Lien Centre for Palliative Care at Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School. “Results highlight the importance of pain management, supporting home deaths, and addressing other end-of-life concerns, in addition to efforts to extend life.”

Patients with advanced cancer often have to make difficult decisions, such as how much to spend on moderately life-extending treatments. This and other end-of-life decisions are also influenced by their informal caregivers. Understanding the relative value that patients and caregivers place on various aspects of end-of-life care can help clinicians tailor treatments to best meet the preferences of their patients.

Related Links:

Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School
Duke University


Gold Member
Real-Time Diagnostics Onscreen Viewer
GEMweb Live
Gold Member
12-Channel ECG
CM1200B
Silver Member
Compact 14-Day Uninterrupted Holter ECG
NR-314P
New
Surgial Headlight
MedLED Chrome

Print article

Channels

Surgical Techniques

view channel
Image: NTT and Olympus have begun the world\'s first joint demonstration experiment of a cloud endoscopy system (Photo courtesy of Olympus)

Cloud Endoscopy System Enables Real-Time Image Processing on the Cloud

Endoscopes, which are flexible tubes inserted into the body's natural openings for internal examination and biopsy collection, are becoming increasingly vital in medical diagnostics. Their minimal invasiveness... Read more

Patient Care

view channel
Image: The newly-launched solution can transform operating room scheduling and boost utilization rates (Photo courtesy of Fujitsu)

Surgical Capacity Optimization Solution Helps Hospitals Boost OR Utilization

An innovative solution has the capability to transform surgical capacity utilization by targeting the root cause of surgical block time inefficiencies. Fujitsu Limited’s (Tokyo, Japan) Surgical Capacity... Read more

Health IT

view channel
Image: First ever institution-specific model provides significant performance advantage over current population-derived models (Photo courtesy of Mount Sinai)

Machine Learning Model Improves Mortality Risk Prediction for Cardiac Surgery Patients

Machine learning algorithms have been deployed to create predictive models in various medical fields, with some demonstrating improved outcomes compared to their standard-of-care counterparts.... Read more

Point of Care

view channel
Image: The PATHFAST hs-cTnI-II high-sensitivity troponin assay has been developed for the PATHFAST Biomarker Analyzer (Photo courtesy of Polymedco)

POC Myocardial Infarction Test Delivers Results in 17 Minutes

Chest pain is the second leading cause of emergency department (ED) visits by adults in the United States, generating over 7 million visits annually. In the event of a suspected heart attack, physicians... Read more
Copyright © 2000-2024 Globetech Media. All rights reserved.