Symptom expression in advanced cancer patients admitted to hospice or home care with and without delirium.

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between delirium and symptom expression in advanced cancer patients admitted to palliative care services. This is a secondary analysis of a consecutive sample of advanced cancer patients who were admitted to home care and hospices, and prospectively assessed for a period of 10 months. The Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS) and the MDAS (Memorial Delirium Assessment Scale) were measured at admission (T0) and after seven days of home care or hospice care (T7). Of the eight hundred and forty-eight patients screened in the period, 585 were not considered in the analysis for various reasons. The mean age was 72.1 years (SD 13.7), and 146 patients were males (55.5%). The mean Karnofsky status recorded at T0 is 34.1 (SD = 6.69). The mean duration palliative care assistance is 38.4 days (SD = 48, range 2-220). Of 263 patients who had a MDAS available at T0, 110 patients (41.8%) had a diagnosis of delirium. Of them, 167 patients had complete data regarding MDAS measurement, either at T0 and T7. A larger number of patients (n 167, 63.5%) had delirium after a week of palliative care. Patients with delirium are likely to be older, to have a lower Karnofsky level at T0, and to be home care patients. At T0, weakness, nausea, drowsiness, lack of appetite, and well-being are associated with delirium. At T7, weakness, poor appetite, and poor well-being are significantly associated with delirium. 27% of patients who had a normal cognitive status at T0 developed delirium at T7. In patients with delirium, an improvement in the cognitive status corresponds to a significant improvement in weakness, depression, and appetite. Conversely, the occurrence of delirium in patients who had a normal cognitive status at admission significantly increases the level depression, while the level of weakness and appetite decrease. Symptom expression is amplified in patients with delirium admitted to home care or hospices, while patients without delirium can be more responsive to palliative treatments with a significant decrease in intensity of ESAS items.

Prevalence of delirium in advanced cancer patients in home care and hospice and outcomes after 1 week of palliative care.

AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of delirium in advanced cancer patients admitted to different palliative care services in Italy and possible related factors. The secondary outcome was to assess the changes of delirium after 1 week of palliative care. METHODS: A consecutive sample of patients was screened for delirium in period of 1 year in seven palliative care services. General data, including primary tumor, age, gender, concomitant disease, palliative prognostic score (PaP), and Karnofsky status, were collected. Possible causes or factors associated with delirium were looked for. The Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale was used to assess physical and psychological symptoms and the Memorial Delirium Assessment Scale (MDAS) to assess the cognitive status of patients, at admission (T0) and 1 week after palliative care (T7). RESULTS: Of 848 patients screened, 263 patients were evaluated. Sixty-six patients had only the initial evaluation. The mean Karnofsky status was 34.1 (SD = 6.69); the mean PaP score at admission was 6.9 (SD = 3.97). The mean duration of palliative care assistance, equivalent to survival, was 38.4 days (SD = 48, range 2-220). The mean MDAS values at admission and after 1 week of palliative care were 6.9 (SD = 6.71) and 8.8 (SD = 8.26), respectively. One hundred ten patients (41.8%) and 167 patients (67.3%) had MDAS values ≥ 7 at admission and after 1 week of palliative care, respectively. Age, dehydration, cachexia, chemotherapy in the last three months, and intensity of drowsiness and dyspnea were independently associated with a MDAS > 7. A worsening of drowsiness, the use of opioids, and the use of corticosteroids were independently associated with changes of MDAS from T0 to T7. CONCLUSION: Although the prevalence of delirium seems to be similar to that reported in other acute settings, delirium tended to worsen or poorly responded to a palliative care treatment. Some clinical factors were independently associated with delirium. This information is relevant for decision-making when delirium does not change despite a traditional intervention. Continuous assessment of delirium should be performed in these settings to detect deterioration of cognitive function. Further studies should elucidate whether an earlier approach to palliative care would decrease the prevalence of delirium at a late stage of disease.

Relative effectiveness of high- versus low-fidelity simulation in learning heart sounds.

CONTEXT: Although there are increasing numbers of studies of outcomes of high-fidelity patient simulators, few contrast their instruction with that provided by equivalent low-fidelity, inexpensive simulators. Further, examination of decays in learning and application (transfer) to real patient problems is rare. In this study, we compared the effects of training using a high-fidelity heart sound simulator (Harvey) and a low-fidelity simulator (a CD) on recognition of both simulated heart sounds and those in actual patients. METHODS: A pilot study with 10 students was conducted to show the feasibility of the methods and some evidence of modality-specific learning (the Harvey-trained group scored 72% correct on Harvey and 36% correct on CD test examples; the CD-trained group scored 60% correct on both CD and Harvey test examples). A main study was then initiated involving 37 Year 3 medical students from the University of Leeds. They received 1 hour of common instruction, after which one group received 3 hours of specific instruction on Harvey. The second group received 3 hours of instruction using a CD. Six weeks later, both groups were tested blind with real patients with stable heart sounds. Stations were observed by an examiner who scored communication skills and examination skills using 5-point scales. RESULTS: The Harvey-trained group was slightly but not significantly better than the CD-trained group at identifying heart sounds (3.11 versus 2.47, respectively; P = 0.06). However, there was no difference between the Harvey and CD-trained groups in diagnosis (2.94 versus 2.84, respectively), communication skills (18.9 versus 19.6, respectively) or examination skills (17.4 versus 17.5, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The study found little evidence that students trained with a high-fidelity simulator were more able to transfer skills to real patients than a control group. Although there was some suggestion that the Harvey-trained group was better at recognising heart sounds, there was no difference between groups in diagnostic accuracy or clinical skills.