Development and validation of impact of early integration of palliative care and oncology(IEI PCO) questionnaire: a survey for medical oncologists and nurses.

OBJECTIVES: Many associations have recently recommended early integration of oncology and palliative care for more standard cancer care and better quality of life. We aimed to create a questionnaire to assess the opinion of medical oncologists and nurses about the clinical impact of the integrated palliative care and oncology (PCO) program. METHODS: A novel semi-structured questionnaire called Impact of Early Integration of Palliative Care Oncology (IEI PCO) questionnaire was developed and tested for validity and reliability then distributed to the oncologists and nurses working in Kuwait Cancer Control Center. RESULTS: After the pilot stage, testing the final questionnaire for validity and reliability was done with satisfactory results. Finally, the complete questionnaires were 170 out of 256 (response rate 66.41%). More awareness about the available palliative care services and the new available PCO services (p-value < 0.001 for all). Most of the oncologists and nurses agreed with the currently available structure of PCO, appreciated the patients' discharge plan and continuity of care of palliative medicine, admitted less work burden, a better attitude, and higher satisfaction (p-value for all < 0.001) toward palliative care. Significant improvements in symptoms were appreciated by oncologists and nurses after the integration of palliative care (p-value for all < 0.001. Oncologists and nurses valued repeated honest communication, discussion of the goals of care, dealing more effectively with ending active treatment, and higher acceptance of patients and families of PC policy of transfer, and significant progress in the care of end-of-life symptoms (p-value for all < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The IEI PCO questionnaire demonstrated the psychometric criteria for content, face, and construct validity and reliability. It provides a valuable tool to assess the impact of PCO integration. The opinion of medical oncologists and nurses was significantly positive toward the early integration of PCO in Kuwait in most aspects of care. This integration led to improved symptom control, end-of-life care, communication, and planned discharge and follow-up plans. Moreover, decreases the work burden, improves attitude, higher satisfaction of the oncology staff, and continuity of care.

Thromboprophylaxis for inpatient with advanced cancer receiving palliative care: A retrospective study.

OBJECTIVES: The benefits and risks of thromboprophylaxis usage in patients with advanced cancer at the end of their lives remain unknown, especially with the lack of randomized studies. This study aimed to describe the clinical use of thromboprophylaxis in those patients under palliative care. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study. It was performed on patients admitted to the Palliative Care Center. RESULTS: A total of 719 patients were enrolled in the study. The mean age was 62.97 (13.65) years. Venous thromboembolism (VTE) incidence was 5.4% (n = 39). At the time of admission, 31.29% (n = 225) of patients were on thromboprophylaxis. At death time, 17.5% (n = 126) of patients were on thromboprophylaxis (41.3% on primary and 58.7% on secondary thromboprophylaxis). The incidence of clinically suspected fatal VTE was 6.5% (n = 47). Surprisingly, clinically suspected VTE was higher statistically in patients with thromboprophylaxis rather than in non-thromboprophylaxis (p < .001). By using linear regression, only higher PPI scores on admission were independent negative predictors of length of stay (OR:4.429, 95% CI: 5.460-3.398, p < .001). The development of clinically suspected fatal VTE, whatever the status of thromboprophylaxis, did not affect the length of stay. CONCLUSIONS: Thromboprophylaxis does not decrease the risk of clinically suspected fatal VTE in patients with advanced disease in their terminal phase. Patients with poor performance status and a short prognosis are unlikely to benefit from thromboprophylaxis.

The pattern of change in opioid and adjuvant prescriptions for cancer pain before and after referral to a comprehensive program in the Palliative Care Center in Kuwait.

BACKGROUND: Cancer-related pain is a complicated symptom that often coincides with fatigue, depression, and anxiety. Although many safe treatments are available, inadequate control of Cancer-related pain continues to lead to suffering in cancer patients. This study's aim is to describe pain control, and the pattern of change in opioid and adjuvant medication prescriptions, before and after referral to the Palliative Care Center. METHODS: We conducted a prospective cohort study in adult cancer patients the Palliative Care Center between January 1, 2016 and December 30, 2017. We measured pain intensity and other associated symptoms via the Revised Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS-r) and documented detailed analgesics and adjuvant medication history before starting any palliative care and on days 0, 3, 6, and 14. RESULTS: The analysis included 240 patients whose cancer-related pain, anxiety, and depression scores meaningfully improved by day 6. The changes in the median (interquartile ranges) of Cancer-related pain, anxiety, and depression scores from day 0 to day 6 were: 6 (4-8) to 3 (1-4); 6 (4-9) to 2 (1-4); and 3 (2-6) to 2 (1-4), respectively, with p < 0.001 for all. Morphine was the most common opioid administered; the percentage using it increased from 20.4% (n = 49) before referral to 49.6% (n = 119) on day 6 (p < 0.001). The median morphine equivalent daily dose decreased from a median (interquartile ranges) of 60(31-93) mg/day before referral to 34(22-66) mg/day on day 6 (p < 0.001). There was also a statistically significant increase in the percentage of patients taking adjuvant medications, from 38.8% before referral to 84.2% on day 6 (p < 0.001). Comparing D0 to D6, the number of patients using Gabapentinoids significantly increased from 57(23.75%) to 79(32.9%) (p < 0.001), amitriptyline dramatically increased from 14 (5.8%) to 44 (18.3%) (p < 0.001), and other antidepressant drugs increased from 15 (6.2%) to 34 (14.1%) (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: After referral to the Palliative Care Center, patients' pain and other symptoms scores decreased significantly, even with lower median morphine equivalent daily doses, arguably through more appropriately directed opioid use. This is evidence for the effectiveness of the comprehensive program at the Palliative Care Center in Kuwait.

Harmonising palliative care: a national survey to evaluate the knowledge and attitude of emergency physicians towards palliative care in Kuwait.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Although the challenges of integrating palliative care practices across care settings are real and well recognised, to date little is known about palliative care practices of emergency physicians (EPs) in Kuwait. Therefore, this study aims to explore the attitude and knowledge of EPs in providing palliative care in all general hospitals in Kuwait. METHOD: A cross-sectional survey was performed in the emergency rooms of all general hospitals in Kuwait using the Palliative Care Attitude and Knowledge Questionnaire. RESULTS: Of the total number of physicians working in emergency rooms (n=156), 104 (66.67%) had completed the survey. 76.9% (n=80) of the EPs had an uncertain attitude towards palliative care. Most of the EPs (n=73, 70.28%) did not discuss the patients' need for palliative care either with the patients or with their families. Only 16 (15.4%) of the EPs responded correctly to most of the questions while nearly half of the EPs (n=51, 49%) had poor knowledge. Experience ≥11 years and better knowledge scores were independent predictors of positive attitude after adjustment of age, sex, qualifications, specialty, position and nationality (OR: 5.747 (CI 1.031 to 25.00), 1.458(CI 1.148 to 1.851); p values: 0.021, 0.002, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Despite recognising palliative care as an important competence, the majority of the EPs in Kuwait had uncertain attitude and poor knowledge towards palliative care. Efforts should be made to enhance physician training and provide palliative care resources to improve the quality of care given to patients visiting emergency departments.

Relationship between malnutrition and different fall risk assessment tools in a geriatric in-patient unit.

BACKGROUND: Despite decades of research evaluating different predictive strategies to identify persons at risk for falls, nutritional issues have received little attention. Malnutrition leads to weight loss associated with muscle weakness and consequently increases the risk of falls. AIMS: The current study assessed the association between nutritional state and fall risk scores in a geriatric in-patient unit in Ain Shams University Hospital, Cairo, Egypt. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the nutritional state of 190 older inpatients using a short form of the Mini-Nutritional Assessment (MNA-SF), and the risk of falls was assessed using the Morse Fall Scale (MFS), Johns Hopkins fall risk assessment tool (JH-FRAT), Schmid Fall Risk Assessment Tool (Schmid-FRAT), Hendrich II Fall Risk Model (HII-FRM) and Functional Assessment Instrument (FAI). The generalised linear models (GLM) and odds ratio (OR) were calculated to test the nutritional status as a risk factor for falls. RESULTS: Malnutrition was significantly associated with high fall risk as assessed by MFS and HII-FRM (OR = 2.833, 95% CI 1.358-5.913, P = 0.006; OR = 3.477, 95% CI 1.822-6.636, P < 0.001), with the highest OR for JH-FRAT (OR = 5.455, 95% CI 1.548-19.214, P = 0.008). After adjusting for age, the adjusted Charlson Comorbidity Index (ACCI), number of fall risk-increasing drugs (FRIDs), risk of malnutrition or malnourished were significantly associated with high fall risk as assessed by MFS (OR = 2.761, 95% CI 1.306-5.836, P = 0.008), JH-FRAT (OR = 4.938, 95% CI 1.368-17.828, P = 0.015), and HII-FRM (OR = 3.486, 95% CI 1.783-6.815, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated a significant association between malnutrition and fall risk assessment scores, especially JH-FRAT, in hospitalised older patients.

Risk stratification among metabolically unhealthy obese in independent physically inactive aged women.

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether or not adiponectin levels or basal metabolic rate (BMR) could predict worse risk stratification in patients with insulin resistance (IR) among metabolically healthy and unhealthy obese (MUHO) elderly females with Metabolic syndrome (MetS). METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 109 elderly females in geriatric nursing home with MetS. The participants were reclassified according to adiponectin levels and IR. RESULTS: Group (1) (with IR, n = 41) compared to group (2) (without IR, n = 45) had lower squared adiponectin level and higher fat mass and fat percent (p value = 0.037, 0.030, and 0.035 respectively). Quadratic adiponectin level was an independent predictor for better BMR in group (2) with higher R2 compared to linear adiponectin level (R2 = 0.19, 0.15 consecutively, p value = 0.02, 0.008 consecutively) in group (2) rather than group (1). This revealed U-shaped relation between adiponectin level and BMR in group (2). By ROC curve, fat and lean percentages were statically significant predictors of IR between groups (1) and (2) (AUC = 0.643, 0.636; p value = 0.024, 0.032 Sensitivity = 89.2%, 72.97%; and Specificity = 55.1%, 24.48% respectively). CONCLUSION: Current findings supported the possibility of risk stratification among MUHO individuals based on IR, squared adiponectin level, lean and fat percentages.

Development of palliative care attitude and knowledge (PCAK) questionnaire for physicians in Kuwait.

BACKGROUND: Over the past five decades, palliative care has changed from helping patients at the end of life into a highly dedicated service focused on delivering supportive care to patients with life-limiting illnesses throughout the disease trajectory. To date there is no common agreement on universally applicable measurement tool to know the areas of weakness in physicians' understanding of palliative care and identifying misconceptions about palliative care. This paper describes the development of a reliable and valid questionnaire to provide a measure of the attitude and knowledge of physicians toward palliative care (PCAK). METHODS: Item pool was generated paying particular attention to content and face validity. The initial version of the questionnaire was piloted and assessed based on psychometric criteria. Items which did not reach acceptable validity were excluded, and the final 37 item version was administered to two groups differing in their palliative care attitude and knowledge on two occasions to assess the construct validity and test-retest reliability. Two hundred thirty two physicians working in primary care clinics and general hospitals completed the questionnaire at the piloting stage. The final version (PCAK) was administered to 35 oncologists and 76 physicians. SPSS v20 was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Of the Pilot study, 20 items were excluded because didn't meet the criteria for item difficulty and discrimination. Item-to-total-score correlations (r) was ranging from 0.347 up to 0.806. Internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) was high ranging from 0.636 to 0.824. While testing the final PCAK, oncologist scored consistently higher than the other physicians on all sections of the questionnaire (P < 0.001) suggesting good construct validity. Test to retest reliability for each section was very high, ranging from 0.879 to 0.97 and the overall reliability was 0.95. The internal consistency reliability of each section was very good ranging from 0.681 ± 0.893. CONCLUSION: The findings demonstrate that PCAK meets psychometric criteria for reliability and construct validity. It provides a useful scale to assess the attitude and knowledge of physicians about palliative care helping in planning of educational programs for physicians.

The validity of Geriatric Nutrition Risk Index: simple tool for prediction of nutritional-related complication of hospitalized elderly patients. Comparison with Mini Nutritional Assessment.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: The Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI) is a promising tool initially proposed to predict nutrition-related complications in sub-acute care setting. So, the main aim of this study was to validate the use of GNRI in hospitalized elderly patients by testing its ability to predict patients' outcome through the comparison with Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA). METHODS: A prospective cohort study was conducted on 131 patients aged 60 and over admitted consecutively from October 2011 to September 2012 to the acute geriatrics medical ward in Ain Shams University hospitals, Cairo, Egypt. All patients were subjected to nutritional screening using GNRI and MNA and measurement of weight, body mass index (BMI), mid arm circumference (MAC), and calf circumference (CC), serum levels of total protein, albumin and prealbumin. Patients were followed for 6 months for the occurrence of major health complications as prolonged length of stay, infectious complications and mortality. RESULTS: Mean age was 69.32 ± 8.17 years. Lower GNRI scores were statically significantly associated with worse MNA scores, lower weight, BMI, MAC, CC and albumin (P value < 0.001 for all). Only with GNRI, increasing odds ratio (OR) was seen with increasing risk of nutrition-related complication (from mild to moderate to severe). ORs (95%CI) for three month mortality were 1.63(0.0.27-10.00), 5.03(1.36-18.52), and 11.24(3.03-41.67), and OR (95%CI) for six month mortality were 1.64(0.403-6.62), 4.29 (1.45-12.66), and 5.71(1.87-17.54) respectively compared to patients with no risk and. By regression, both severe and moderate grade of GNRI were independent predictors of three and six month mortality (P value for three month: 0.002, 0.015; for six month: 0.002, 0.008 respectively) after adjustment of age, sex, and cancer rather than MNA. CONCLUSIONS: GNRI showed a higher prognostic value for describing and classification of nutritional status and nutritional-related complications in hospitalized elderly patients in addition to its simplicity.