Improving End-Of-Life Care: A Systematic Review Of The Impact And Effectivness Of Palliative Medicine
Published 2024-03-10
Keywords
- End-of-life, Palliative Medicine, Effectiveness, Caregivers, Quality of life
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Abstract
Introduction: The need for palliative medicine has increased in the last few decades on global and local levels as a result of increasing in the prevalence of chronic health problems to improve the quality of life for patients with terminal illness and their caregivers and families
Objectives: To explore the impact and effectiveness of palliative medicine in improving end-of-life care as well as the quality of life of patients and their caregivers.
Methods: A comprehensive literature review search was conducted using relevant databases including studies focusing on impact and effectivness of palliative medicine on end-of-life care.
Results: A total of 2,518 articles were initially identified. Only 13 aticles were eligible for inclusion in this systematic review. Four studies were randomized clinical trials, one quasi experimental study, one none-randomized cmparative sudy, two propective studies, three cross-sectional studies, one mixed (quantitative and qualitative) study and one qualitative study. Most studies were conducted among patints only (n=7), while two studies were conducted among both patients and caregivers and three studies were conducted among only caregivers while only one study was conducted among healhcare providers. Improvement of the patients and/or caregivers` quality of life, coping with dath or functional status was reported in most studies (n=10).
Conclusion: The impact and effectiveness of palliative medicine on end-of-life care is not clear, with some evidence that patients may get benefits from it. A comprehensive nationwide multicentric study is recommended to be conducted in whole Saudi Arabia