Association of Receipt of Palliative Care Interventions With Health Care Use, Quality of Life, and Symptom Burden Among Adults With Chronic Noncancer Illness: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Review of 28 trials (n=13,664) found that palliative care, compared with usual care, was statistically significantly associated with less emergency department use, less hospitalisation, and modestly lower symptom burden, but there was no significant difference in quality of life.
Source:
Journal of the American Medical Association
SPS commentary:
A related editorial reviews this research, concluding that it provides evidence that palliative care is associated with reduced acute care service use, mitigation of symptoms, and increased advance care planning in patients with noncancer illnesses. It also underscores the need to fund, develop, and test interventions that provide relief of symptoms, interventions that improve quality of life, and interventions for diseases for which little or no randomised trial–level evidence currently exists.