End of Life Care-Does the Illness Make a Difference?

JAMA Internal Medicine ran an article about a study concerning quality of care in end of life, looking specifically at the illnesses. Quality of End-of-Life Care Provided to Patients With Different Serious Illnesses was published on June 26, 2016.  According to the abstract, “[e]fforts to improve end-of-life care have focused primarily on patients with cancer. High-quality end-of-life care is also critical for patients with other illnesses.” The authors wanted “[t]o compare patterns of end-of-life care and family-rated quality of care for patients dying with different serious illnesses.”  The study offers several findings, including:

In a large national cohort of nearly all patients dying in VA inpatient facilities, we observed important differences in the end-of-life care received by individuals with different illnesses. Overall, we found that diagnosis was significantly associated with the quality of end-of-life care as measured both by family surveys and by several established measures of quality of end-of-life care. Patients with end-organ failure and frailty generally received lower-quality end-of-life care than did patients with cancer or dementia. (citations omitted).

After discussing their findings, the authors conclude

While there is room for improvement in end-of-life care across all diagnoses, family-reported quality of end-of-life care was significantly better for patients with cancer and those with dementia than for patients with ESRD, cardiopulmonary failure, or frailty. This quality advantage was mediated by palliative care consultation, do-not-resuscitate orders, and setting of death. Increasing access to palliative care and increasing the rates of goals of care discussions that address code status and preferred setting of death, particularly for patients with end-organ failure and frailty, may improve the quality of end-of-life care for Americans dying with these conditions.

The article is free and is available here.