TY - JOUR
T1 - End of life in general practice
T2 - trends 2009-2019
AU - Bergman, Tessa D
AU - Pasman, H Roeline W
AU - Hendriksen, Janneke Mt
AU - Onwuteaka-Philipsen, Bregje D
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
PY - 2022/10/26
Y1 - 2022/10/26
N2 - OBJECTIVES: To assess possible trends between 2009 and 2019 in the Netherlands of palliative care indicators: the provision of palliative care or treatment, hospitalisations in the last month before death, use of specialised palliative care services and place of death.METHODS: The study design was a repeated retrospective cross-sectional design with questionnaires filled in by general practitioners within a clustered sample of 67 Sentinel practices. Patients whose death was non-sudden, and thus could have received palliative care, between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2019 were included in the study, resulting in 3121 patients.RESULTS: Between 2009 and 2019, there is a significant increase in the number of people who receive palliative care or treatment alongside life-prolonging or curative treatment and the number of people who die at home, while the number of hospitalisations in the last month before death and the number of people dying in hospital shows a significant decrease. However, there is no trend in the involvement of specialised palliative care services or people receiving solely palliative care or treatment.CONCLUSION: This study suggests improvements in end-of-life care provided in primary care in the Netherlands. Trends coincided with increased attention to palliative care both in practice and policy. Yet, there is still considerable room for improvement as there is no significant increase in people solely receiving palliative care or treatment and the involvement of specialised palliative care services.
AB - OBJECTIVES: To assess possible trends between 2009 and 2019 in the Netherlands of palliative care indicators: the provision of palliative care or treatment, hospitalisations in the last month before death, use of specialised palliative care services and place of death.METHODS: The study design was a repeated retrospective cross-sectional design with questionnaires filled in by general practitioners within a clustered sample of 67 Sentinel practices. Patients whose death was non-sudden, and thus could have received palliative care, between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2019 were included in the study, resulting in 3121 patients.RESULTS: Between 2009 and 2019, there is a significant increase in the number of people who receive palliative care or treatment alongside life-prolonging or curative treatment and the number of people who die at home, while the number of hospitalisations in the last month before death and the number of people dying in hospital shows a significant decrease. However, there is no trend in the involvement of specialised palliative care services or people receiving solely palliative care or treatment.CONCLUSION: This study suggests improvements in end-of-life care provided in primary care in the Netherlands. Trends coincided with increased attention to palliative care both in practice and policy. Yet, there is still considerable room for improvement as there is no significant increase in people solely receiving palliative care or treatment and the involvement of specialised palliative care services.
KW - Home care
KW - Hospital care
KW - Methodological research
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85142774771&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1136/spcare-2022-003609
DO - https://doi.org/10.1136/spcare-2022-003609
M3 - Article
C2 - 36288918
SN - 2045-435X
JO - BMJ supportive & palliative care
JF - BMJ supportive & palliative care
M1 - 003609
ER -