Insomnia in hospitalised patients with advanced disease : prevalence and related factors

Objectiu: Avaluar prevalença i factors associats a l'insomni en pacients ingressats a una unitat de cures pal·liatives. Mètode: Entrevista estructurada a pacients consecutivament ingressats avaluant l'insomni a través de l'escala Sleep Disturbance Scale, i els factors físics, psicològics i ambientals potencialment associats. Resultats principals: El 47% presentà insomni moderat a sever. Els factors potencialment associats més prevalents foren dolor, distrés psicològic, rumiacions nocturnes i factors ambientals. En l'anàlisi multivariada, rumiacions nocturnes i somnolència diürna (relació inversa) es relacionaren amb insomni moderat a sever. Conclusions: L'insomni és un símptoma prevalent relacionat amb rumiacions nocturnes i absència de somnolència diürna.Aim: To evaluate the prevalence and factors associated with insomnia in patients admitted to a palliative care unit. Method: Consecutively admitted patients were surveyed, evaluating insomnia with the Sleep Disturbance Scale, as well as physical, psychological and environmental potentially associated factors. Main results: 47% of the 61 included patients presented moderate to severe insomnia. Prevalent potentially associated factors were pain, psychological distress, nocturnal rumination and environmental factors. In a multivariate analysis, nocturnal rumination and daytime somnolence (inverse relationship) were associated with moderate to severe insomnia. Conclusions: Insomnia is a prevalent symptom associated with nocturnal rumination and daytime somnolence

Insomnia among patients with advanced disease during admission in a Palliative Care Unit : a prospective observational study on its frequency and association with psychological, physical and environmental factors

The aims of this study were: 1) to assess the frequency of insomnia among patients during admission in a Palliative Care Unit (PCU); 2) to study the association between emotional distress and insomnia, taking physical, environmental and other psychological factors into account. Prospective observational study including patients consecutively admitted to a PCU during eight months, excluding those with severe cognitive problems or too low performance status. Insomnia was assessed by asking a single question and by using the Sleep Disturbance Scale (SDS), and emotional distress using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Physical, environmental and other psychological factors potentially interfering with sleep quality were evaluated. Association between insomnia and the factors evaluated was studied using univariate and multivariate regression analyses. 61 patients were included (mean age 71.5 years; 95% with oncological disease); 38 (62%) answered "yes" to the insomnia single question and 29 (47%) showed moderate to severe insomnia according to the SDS. 65% showed clinically significant emotional distress and 79% had nocturnal rumination. The physical symptoms most often mentioned as interfering with sleep quality were pain (69%) and dyspnoea (36%). 77% reported at least one environmental disturbance. In the univariate analysis, answering "yes" to the insomnia single question was significantly associated with higher HADS score, anxiety, nocturnal rumination, clear knowledge of the diagnosis, higher performance status and dyspnoea; moderate to severe insomnia was significantly associated with nocturnal rumination, higher performance status, environmental disturbances and daytime sleepiness. In the multivariate regression analysis, answering "yes" to the single question was associated with dyspnoea (OR 7.2 [1.65-31.27]; p = 0.009), nocturnal rumination (OR 5.5 [1.05-28.49]; p = 0.04) and higher performance status (OR 14.3 [1.62-125.43]; p = 0.017), and moderate to severe insomnia with nocturnal rumination (OR 5.6 [1.1-29.1]; p = 0.041), and inversely associated with daytime sleepiness (OR 0.25 [0.07-0.9]; p = 0.043). Insomnia was highly frequent. Several physical, psychological and environmental factors seemed to influence insomnia. Within the multimodal management of insomnia, the assessment of nocturnal rumination may be of particular interest, irrespective of emotional distress. Further studies with larger sample sizes could confirm this result

Caring for a Person With Dementia on the Margins of Long-Term Care: A Perspective on Burden From 8 European Countries

© 2017 AMDA – The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine Objectives To explore associations between carer burden and characteristics of (1) the informal carer, (2) the person with dementia, and (3) the care support network in 8 European countries. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting People with dementia judged at risk of admission to long-term care (LTC) facilities in 8 European countries (Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom). Participants A total of 1223 people with dementia supported by community services at home or receiving day care or respite care and their informal carers. Measurements Variables regarding the informal carer included familial relationship and living situation. Variables relating to the person with dementia included cognitive functioning (S-MMSE), neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPI-Q), depressive symptoms (Cornell depression scale), comorbidity (Charlson Comorbidity Index), and physical functioning (Katz Activity of Daily Living [ADL] Index). The care support network was measured using hours of caregiving (ADLs, instrumental ADLs [IADLs], supervision), additional informal care support, and service receipt (home care, day care). Experience of carer burden was recorded using the Zarit Burden Interview. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine factors associated with high carer burden. Results Carer burden was highest in Estonia (mean 39.7/88) and lowest in the Netherlands (mean 26.5/88). High burden was significantly associated with characteristics of the informal carer (family relationship, specifically wives or daughters), of the person with dementia (physical dependency in ADLs; neuropsychiatric symptoms, in particular nighttime behaviors and irritability), the care support network (hours of caregiving supervision; receipt of other informal care support) and country of residence. Conclusion A range of factors are associated with burden in informal carers of people with dementia judged to be on the margins of LTC. Support for informal carers needs to take account of gender differences. The dual challenges of distressed behaviors and difficulties in ADLs by the person with dementia may be addressed by specific nonpharmacological interventions focusing on both elements. The potential protective effect of additional informal support to carers highlights the importance of peer support or better targeted home support services. The implementation of appropriate and tailored interventions to reduce burden by supporting informal carers may enable people with dementia to remain at home for longer

Quality issues in caring for older people: Appropriateness of transition from long-term care facilities to acute hospital care. Potentially inappropriate medication: development of a European list

Aquesta tesi doctoral és una tesi per compendi de publicacions que engloba dos aspectes de qualitat de l’atenció a l’ancià. El primer aspecte és l’adequació del trasllat des de centres residencials a hospitals d’aguts. Les persones que viuen en centres residencials sovint presenten diferents graus de comorbiditat, estat cognitiu i funcional i estadis de les patologies. La seva derivació o admissió a urgències o a hospital d’aguts pot ser beneficiosa en algunes ocasions, però en altres ocasions pot representar una discontinuïtat en l’atenció poc favorable. En aquest primer article, els autors van dur a terme una revisió sistemàtica de la literatura per identificar els estudis realitzats internacionalment que han avaluat el concepte d’adequació del trasllat des de centres residencials a hospitals d’aguts. Van identificar vint-i-nou articles, els quals foren heterogenis respecte els seus dissenys, els entorns estudiats, els instruments utilitzats per determinar adequació dels trasllats, i els resultats obtinguts. La proporció d’admissions considerades inadequades varià del 2% al 77%. Entre els estudis, els autors van identificar setze instruments els quals variaren quant als conceptes estudiats, el seu format i la seva administració. L’equip investigador va aïllar els sis aspectes més prominents avaluats pels instruments: diagnòstics mèdics específics, agudesa/severitat dels símptomes, característiques dels residents prèvies al trasllat, desitjos dels residents o de les famílies, existència d’un pla d’atenció, i disponibilitat o requeriment de recursos. Cinc dels instruments avaluaren adequació tenint en compte només un d’aquests aspectes. Únicament sis instruments tingueren en compte quatre o més dels aspectes. Només tres instruments avaluaren els desitjos dels pacients o de les famílies, i sis instruments avaluaren les característiques dels residents prèvies al trasllat. Els autors conclouen que la majoria dels instruments no són globals i no tenen en compte els aspectes individuals dels residents. També conclouen que calen més estudis per desenvolupar un instrument que estigui basat en evidència, i que sigui global i generalitzable a diferents regions o països per tal d’avaluar l’adequació de l’admissió hospitalària dels ancians que viuen en centres residencials. El segon aspecte és la prescripció de medicaments potencialment inadequats (PIM) per a l’ancià. PIM són els medicaments que no s’hauria de prescriure a aquesta població perquè el seu risc de reaccions adverses supera els seus beneficis clínics, particularment quan existeix evidència a favor d’un tractament alternatiu per la mateixa condició més segur o efectiu. Diversos autors han desenvolupat llistes PIM per ajudar a identificar i reduir la prescripció de PIM als seus països. Aquest article descriu la preparació d’una llista PIM que incorpora medicaments dels mercats de set països europeus. En primer lloc, es preparà una llista PIM preliminar a partir de quatre llistes PIM internacionals. A continuació, trenta experts en prescripció geriàtrica d’Estònia, Finlàndia, França, Holanda, Espanya i Suècia participaren ampliant la llista preliminar amb nous medicaments i avaluant l’adequació dels medicaments mitjançant el mètode Delphi en dues voltes. Els experts també suggeriren ajustaments de dosi i alternatives terapèutiques. Finalment, un grup reduït d’experts respongueren un breu qüestionari final per obtenir un acord sobre alguns aspectes. Els experts arribaren al consens de que 282 substàncies químiques o classes de medicaments són considerats PIM pels ancians. Alguns dels PIM es refereixen a una dosi o duració d’ús específiques. Els autors presenten la llista anomenada “European Union (EU)(7)-PIM list” i conclouen que es tracta d’una eina de cribatge que permet la identificació de PIM i comparació de patrons de prescripció entre països europeus, i que també pot ser utilitzada com a guia per a la pràctica clínica. Conclouen també que calen més estudis que investiguin la factibilitat i aplicabilitat de la llista així com els beneficis clínics del seu ús.This doctoral thesis is a cumulative thesis and covers two quality issues in the care of older people, each of which is approached in an individual article. The first issue is the appropriateness of transferring older people from long-term care facilities to acute hospital care. Residents in long-term care facilities often differ in terms of comorbidity, cognitive and functional status, and stage of disease. Their referral or admission to an emergency department or acute hospital may be beneficial on some occasions, but on others it may represent an unfavourable discontinuity of care. In this first article, the authors performed a systematic review of the literature to identify those international studies that have evaluated the concept of appropriateness of transition from long-term care facilities to hospital care. They identified twenty-nine articles, which were heterogeneous regarding their study designs, the settings investigated, the assessment tools used to determine appropriateness of transition, and the results obtained. The proportion of admissions considered as inappropriate ranged from 2% to 77%. Throughout the studies, the authors identified sixteen different assessment tools, which varied regarding the concepts studied, their format and application. The research team isolated the six most prominent aspects considered by the assessment tools: specific medical diagnoses, acuteness/severity of symptoms, residents’ characteristics prior to admission, residents’ or families’ wishes, existence of a care plan, and availability or requirement of resources. Five tools assessed appropriateness taking only one of these aspects into consideration. Only six tools took four or more aspects into consideration. Only three of the tools assessed residents’ or families’ wishes, and six tools assessed the residents’ characteristics prior to admission. The authors conclude that most assessment tools are not comprehensive and do not take the individual aspects of the residents into account. They also conclude that further research is needed to develop a tool that is evidence-based, comprehensive and generalizable to different regions or countries in order to assess the appropriateness of hospital admissions among long-term care residents. The second issue is the prescription of potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) to older people. PIM are those drugs that should not be prescribed for this population because the risk of adverse events outweighs the clinical benefit, particularly when there is evidence in favour of a safer or more effective alternative therapy for the same condition. Several authors have developed country-specific PIM lists to help identifying and improving prescription in their country. This article describes the development of a PIM list that covers the drug markets of seven European countries. First, a preliminary PIM list was prepared which contained PIM from four international lists. Next, thirty experts on geriatric prescribing from Estonia, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden participated in the development process by first expanding the preliminary list with further medications, and then assessing the appropriateness of the drugs and suggesting dose adjustments and therapeutic alternatives in a two-round Delphi survey. Finally, a reduced number of experts participated in a last brief survey to agree on last discussion issues. Experts reached the consensus that 282 chemical substances or drug classes are PIM for older people, with some PIM being restricted to a certain dose or duration of use. The authors present the European Union (EU)(7)-PIM list and conclude that this is a screening tool that allows identification and comparison of PIM prescribing patterns for older people across European countries, and that it can also be used as a guide in clinical practice. They conclude also that further research is needed to investigate the feasibility and applicability of the list and the clinical benefits of its application

Insomnia in hospitalised patients with advanced disease: prevalence and related factors

Objectiu: Avaluar prevalença i factors associats a l’insomni en pacients ingressats a una unitat de cures pal•liatives. Mètode: Entrevista estructurada a pacients consecutivament ingressats avaluant l’insomni a través de l’escala Sleep Disturbance Scale, i els factors físics, psicològics i ambientals potencialment associats. Resultats principals: El 47% presentà insomni moderat a sever. Els factors potencialment associats més prevalents foren dolor, distrés psicològic, rumiacions nocturnes i factors ambientals. En l’anàlisi multivariada, rumiacions nocturnes i somnolència diürna (relació inversa) es relacionaren amb insomni moderat a sever. Conclusions: L’insomni és un símptoma prevalent relacionat amb rumiacions nocturnes i absència de somnolència diürna.Aim: To evaluate the prevalence and factors associated with insomnia in patients admitted to a palliative care unit. Method: Consecutively admitted patients were surveyed, evaluating insomnia with the Sleep Disturbance Scale, as well as physical, psychological and environmental potentially associated factors. Main results: 47% of the 61 included patients presented moderate to severe insomnia. Prevalent potentially associated factors were pain, psychological distress, nocturnal rumination and environmental factors. In a multivariate analysis, nocturnal rumination and daytime somnolence (inverse relationship) were associated with moderate to severe insomnia. Conclusions: Insomnia is a prevalent symptom associated with nocturnal rumination and daytime somnolence

Successful collaboration in dementia care from the perspectives of healthcare professionals and informal carers in Germany: results from a focus group study

Stephan A, Möhler R, Renom-Guiteras A, Meyer G. Successful collaboration in dementia care from the perspectives of healthcare professionals and informal carers in Germany: results from a focus group study. BMC Health Services Research. 2015;2015(15): 208

Quality issues in caring for older people : appropriateness of transition from long-term care facilities to acute hospital care : potentially inappropriate medication: development of a European list /

Aquesta tesi doctoral és una tesi per compendi de publicacions que engloba dos aspectes de qualitat de l'atenció a l'ancià. El primer aspecte és l'adequació del trasllat des de centres residencials a hospitals d'aguts. Les persones que viuen en centres residencials sovint presenten diferents graus de comorbiditat, estat cognitiu i funcional i estadis de les patologies. La seva derivació o admissió a urgències o a hospital d'aguts pot ser beneficiosa en algunes ocasions, però en altres ocasions pot representar una discontinuïtat en l'atenció poc favorable. En aquest primer article, els autors van dur a terme una revisió sistemàtica de la literatura per identificar els estudis realitzats internacionalment que han avaluat el concepte d'adequació del trasllat des de centres residencials a hospitals d'aguts. Van identificar vint-i-nou articles, els quals foren heterogenis respecte els seus dissenys, els entorns estudiats, els instruments utilitzats per determinar adequació dels trasllats, i els resultats obtinguts. La proporció d'admissions considerades inadequades varià del 2% al 77%. Entre els estudis, els autors van identificar setze instruments els quals variaren quant als conceptes estudiats, el seu format i la seva administració. L'equip investigador va aïllar els sis aspectes més prominents avaluats pels instruments: diagnòstics mèdics específics, agudesa/severitat dels símptomes, característiques dels residents prèvies al trasllat, desitjos dels residents o de les famílies, existència d'un pla d'atenció, i disponibilitat o requeriment de recursos. Cinc dels instruments avaluaren adequació tenint en compte només un d'aquests aspectes. Únicament sis instruments tingueren en compte quatre o més dels aspectes. Només tres instruments avaluaren els desitjos dels pacients o de les famílies, i sis instruments avaluaren les característiques dels residents prèvies al trasllat. Els autors conclouen que la majoria dels instruments no són globals i no tenen en compte els aspectes individuals dels residents. També conclouen que calen més estudis per desenvolupar un instrument que estigui basat en evidència, i que sigui global i generalitzable a diferents regions o països per tal d'avaluar l'adequació de l'admissió hospitalària dels ancians que viuen en centres residencials. El segon aspecte és la prescripció de medicaments potencialment inadequats (PIM) per a l'ancià. PIM són els medicaments que no s'hauria de prescriure a aquesta població perquè el seu risc de reaccions adverses supera els seus beneficis clínics, particularment quan existeix evidència a favor d'un tractament alternatiu per la mateixa condició més segur o efectiu. Diversos autors han desenvolupat llistes PIM per ajudar a identificar i reduir la prescripció de PIM als seus països. Aquest article descriu la preparació d'una llista PIM que incorpora medicaments dels mercats de set països europeus. En primer lloc, es preparà una llista PIM preliminar a partir de quatre llistes PIM internacionals. A continuació, trenta experts en prescripció geriàtrica d'Estònia, Finlàndia, França, Holanda, Espanya i Suècia participaren ampliant la llista preliminar amb nous medicaments i avaluant l'adequació dels medicaments mitjançant el mètode Delphi en dues voltes. Els experts també suggeriren ajustaments de dosi i alternatives terapèutiques. Finalment, un grup reduït d'experts respongueren un breu qüestionari final per obtenir un acord sobre alguns aspectes. Els experts arribaren al consens de que 282 substàncies químiques o classes de medicaments són considerats PIM pels ancians. Alguns dels PIM es refereixen a una dosi o duració d'ús específiques. Els autors presenten la llista anomenada "European Union (EU)(7)-PIM list" i conclouen que es tracta d'una eina de cribatge que permet la identificació de PIM i comparació de patrons de prescripció entre països europeus, i que també pot ser utilitzada com a guia per a la pràctica clínica. Conclouen també que calen més estudis que investiguin la factibilitat i aplicabilitat de la llista així com els beneficis clínics del seu úsThis doctoral thesis is a cumulative thesis and covers two quality issues in the care of older people, each of which is approached in an individual article. The first issue is the appropriateness of transferring older people from long-term care facilities to acute hospital care. Residents in long-term care facilities often differ in terms of comorbidity, cognitive and functional status, and stage of disease. Their referral or admission to an emergency department or acute hospital may be beneficial on some occasions, but on others it may represent an unfavourable discontinuity of care. In this first article, the authors performed a systematic review of the literature to identify those international studies that have evaluated the concept of appropriateness of transition from long-term care facilities to hospital care. They identified twenty-nine articles, which were heterogeneous regarding their study designs, the settings investigated, the assessment tools used to determine appropriateness of transition, and the results obtained. The proportion of admissions considered as inappropriate ranged from 2% to 77%. Throughout the studies, the authors identified sixteen different assessment tools, which varied regarding the concepts studied, their format and application. The research team isolated the six most prominent aspects considered by the assessment tools: specific medical diagnoses, acuteness/severity of symptoms, residents' characteristics prior to admission, residents' or families' wishes, existence of a care plan, and availability or requirement of resources. Five tools assessed appropriateness taking only one of these aspects into consideration. Only six tools took four or more aspects into consideration. Only three of the tools assessed residents' or families' wishes, and six tools assessed the residents' characteristics prior to admission. The authors conclude that most assessment tools are not comprehensive and do not take the individual aspects of the residents into account. They also conclude that further research is needed to develop a tool that is evidence-based, comprehensive and generalizable to different regions or countries in order to assess the appropriateness of hospital admissions among long-term care residents. The second issue is the prescription of potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) to older people. PIM are those drugs that should not be prescribed for this population because the risk of adverse events outweighs the clinical benefit, particularly when there is evidence in favour of a safer or more effective alternative therapy for the same condition. Several authors have developed country-specific PIM lists to help identifying and improving prescription in their country. This article describes the development of a PIM list that covers the drug markets of seven European countries. First, a preliminary PIM list was prepared which contained PIM from four international lists. Next, thirty experts on geriatric prescribing from Estonia, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden participated in the development process by first expanding the preliminary list with further medications, and then assessing the appropriateness of the drugs and suggesting dose adjustments and therapeutic alternatives in a two-round Delphi survey. Finally, a reduced number of experts participated in a last brief survey to agree on last discussion issues. Experts reached the consensus that 282 chemical substances or drug classes are PIM for older people, with some PIM being restricted to a certain dose or duration of use. The authors present the European Union (EU)(7)-PIM list and conclude that this is a screening tool that allows identification and comparison of PIM prescribing patterns for older people across European countries, and that it can also be used as a guide in clinical practice. They conclude also that further research is needed to investigate the feasibility and applicability of the list and the clinical benefits of its application

Professional care providers in dementia care in eight European countries; their training and involvement in early dementia stage and in home care.

Knowledge concerning professionals involved in dementia care throughout its trajectory is sparse; the focus has mainly been on nursing-home care and less on home care, diagnosis and treatment of the disease and its complications despite the fact that home care is the most prominent type of care. The aim of this study was to explore and describe professional care providers involved in dementia care and their educational level applying the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) and further to investigate practice in the RightTimePlaceCare-countries with regard to screening, diagnostic procedures and treatment of dementia and home care. The findings demonstrate more similarities than differences in terms of type of professionals involved among the countries although untrained staff were more common in some countries. Findings also show that many types of professionals are involved, who to turn to may not be clear, for instance in terms of medical specialities and it may be unclear who bears the ultimate responsibility. The professionals involved in diagnosis, treatment and care are educated to bachelor's level or above whilst everyday care is provided by people trained at a lower ISCED level or with no formal training. Registered nurses as well as occupational therapists have bachelor's degrees in most countries, but not in Germany or Estonia. Professionals specifically trained in dementia care are not so common. Further research is needed to reveal not only who provides the diagnostics and treatment, but also how home care is organised and quality assured. Many different types of professionals serve as providers along the trajectory of the disease which may be difficult for the patient and the informal caregiver to cope with