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Defining the palliative care patient: a systematic review
Wouter Van Mechelen1, Bert Aertgeerts, Karolien De Ceulaer
1Academic Center for General Practice, K.U.Leuven, Belgium. Wouter.VanMechelen@med.kuleuven.be
Palliative Medicine
|February 8, 2012
Summary
Defining palliative care patients is crucial for research and practice. This study proposes key characteristics for a clear definition, including disease status and holistic care approaches.
Area of Science:
- Palliative Care Medicine
- Clinical Research Methodology
Background:
- Lack of a standardized definition for palliative care patients hinders research comparability and clinical implementation.
- Existing studies exhibit significant heterogeneity in defining their patient populations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To establish minimum defining characteristics for a palliative care patient.
- To improve consistency in research and practice within palliative care.
Main Methods:
- Systematic literature review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in palliative care.
- Analysis of patient population characteristics from 60 eligible RCTs across various databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PSYCHINFO).
Main Results:
- Published RCTs lack clear definitions for palliative care patients.
- Significant diversity observed in patient characteristics and illness attributes requiring palliation.
- Ambiguous use of the term 'palliative' identified in research.
Conclusions:
- Propose defining palliative care patients by health status (progressive, life-limiting illness) and care delivery (holistic, interdisciplinary, end-of-life focus).
- Suggest incorporating patient readiness and shared vision of care among patient and caregivers into the definition.
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