Priorities for treatment, care and information if faced with serious illness: a comparative population-based survey in seven European countries.
Palliat Med
; 28(2): 101-10, 2014 Feb.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-23703237
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Health-care costs are growing, with little population-based data about people's priorities for end-of-life care, to guide service development and aid discussions.AIM:
We examined variations in people's priorities for treatment, care and information across seven European countries.DESIGN:
Telephone survey of a random sample of households; we asked respondents their priorities if 'faced with a serious illness, like cancer, with limited time to live' and used multivariable logistic regressions to identify associated factors. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS:
Members of the general public aged ≥ 16 years residing in England, Flanders, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.RESULTS:
In total, 9344 individuals were interviewed. Most people chose 'improve quality of life for the time they had left', ranging from 57% (95% confidence interval 55%-60%, Italy) to 81% (95% confidence interval 79%-83%, Spain). Only 2% (95% confidence interval 1%-3%, England) to 6% (95% confidence interval 4%-7%, Flanders) said extending life was most important, and 15% (95% confidence interval 13%-17%, Spain) to 40% (95% confidence interval 37%-43%, Italy) said quality and extension were equally important. Prioritising quality of life was associated with higher education in all countries (odds ratio = 1.3 (Flanders) to 7.9 (Italy)), experience of caregiving or bereavement (England, Germany, Portugal), prioritising pain/symptom control over having a positive attitude and preferring death in a hospice/palliative care unit. Those prioritising extending life had the highest home death preference of all groups. Health status did not affect priorities.CONCLUSIONS:
Across all countries, extending life was prioritised by a minority, regardless of health status. Treatment and care needs to be reoriented with patient education and palliative care becoming mainstream for serious conditions such as cancer.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Qualidade de Vida
/
Assistência Terminal
/
Doente Terminal
/
Prioridades em Saúde
/
Neoplasias
País/Região como assunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2014
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Reino Unido