Increasing the Number of Patients Receiving Information About Transition to End-of-life Care

NCT02091622 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: Intervention-sv-pall
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 1,431
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Introduction: Honest prognostication and information for patients are important parts of end-of-life care. This study examined whether an educational intervention could increase the proportion of patients who received information about the transition to end-of-life care (ITEOL). Method: Two municipalities (in charge of nursing homes) and two hospitals were randomized to receive an interactive half-day course about ITEOL for physicians and nurses. The proportion of patients who received ITEOL was measured with data from the Swedish Register of Palliative Care (SRPC). Patients were only included if they died an expected death and maintained their ability to express their will until days or hours before their death. Four hospitals and four municipalities were assigned controls, matched by hospital size, population, and proportion of patients receiving ITEOL at baseline.

Conditions

Palliative Care; Disclosure

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• The proportion of patients who received ITEOL

  The proportion of patients who received ITEOL was measured with data from the Swedish Register of Palliative Care (SRPC). Six months after the intervention data were collected from the SRPC for all patients who had died at the included hospitals and municipalities. Data were collected from six months before the intervention to six months after the intervention. The outcome was compared before and after the intervention.

  Six months after intervention

Study Arms (2)

Educative intervention

OTHER

Two municipalities (in charge of nursing homes) and two hospitals were randomized to receive an interactive half-day course about ITEOL for physicians and nurses.

Other: Educative intervention

No intervention

NO INTERVENTION

No intervention.

Interventions

Educative intervention OTHER

Two municipalities (in charge of nursing homes) and two hospitals were randomized to receive an interactive half-day course about ITEOL for physicians and nurses.

Educative intervention

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Hospitals and municipalities: Participation in the Swedish Register of Palliative Care.
• Patients: Reported from an included hospital or municipality during six months before to six months after intervention.

You may not qualify if:

• Patients were excluded when death was unexpected, when a forensic post mortem examination was performed, or when the patients had lost their ability to express their will and take part in decisions concerning the content of medical care one week or more before death.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Umeå University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Umeå University, Dept of radiation sciences

Umeå, Umeå, SE-901 87, Sweden

Location

Study Officials

• Bertil Axelsson, MD PhD

  Umeå University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 13, 2014
• First Posted: March 19, 2014
• Study Start: August 1, 2011
• Primary Completion: October 1, 2012
• Study Completion: October 1, 2012
• Last Updated: March 19, 2014

Record last verified: 2014-03

Locations

SE (1)