Palliative care among heart failure patients in primary care: A comparison to cancer patients using english family practice data

Gadoud, Amy; Kane, Eleanor; Macleod, Una; Ansell, Pat; Oliver, Steven; Johnson, Miriam

Abstract

© 2014 Gadoud et al. Introduction: Patients with heart failure have a significant symptom burden and other palliative care needs often over a longer period than patients with cancer. It is acknowledged that this need may be unmet but by how much has not been quantified in primary care data at the population level. Methods: This was the first use of Clinical Practice Research Datalink, the world's largest primary care database to explore recognition of the need for palliative care. Heart failure and cancer patients who had died in 2009 aged 18 or over and had at least one year of primary care records were identified. A palliative approach to care among patients with heart failure was compared to that among patients with cancer using entry onto a palliative care register as a marker for a palliative approach to care. Results: Among patients with heart failure, 7% (234/3 122) were entered on the palliative care register compared to 48% (3 669/7 608) of cancer patients. Of heart failure patients on the palliative care register, 29% (69/234) were entered onto the register within a week of their death. Conclusions: This confirms that the stark inequity in recognition of palliative care needs for people with heart failure in a large primary care dataset. We recommend a move away from prognosis based criteria for palliative care towards a patient centred approach, with assessment of and attention to palliative needs including advance care planning throughout the disease trajectory.

Citation

Gadoud, A., Kane, E., Macleod, U., Ansell, P., Oliver, S., & Johnson, M. (2014). Palliative care among heart failure patients in primary care: A comparison to cancer patients using english family practice data. PLoS ONE, 9(11), Article e113188. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0113188

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 27, 2014
• Online Publication Date: Nov 25, 2014
• Publication Date: Nov 25, 2014
• Deposit Date: Apr 19, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 20, 2022
• Journal: PLoS ONE
• Print ISSN: 1932-6203
• Publisher: Public Library of Science
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 9
• Issue: 11
• Article Number: e113188
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0113188
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/3594974