Increased patient satisfaction by integration of palliative care into geriatrics-A prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Integration of oncology and palliative care has been shown to increase quality of life in advanced disease. To meet the needs of the growing older population, integration of palliative care and geriatrics has been proposed but scarcely described. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to integrate palliative care into geriatrics by a structured care guide, the Swedish Palliative Care Guide, and to evaluate its effect on patient satisfaction, health-related quality of life and symptom burden, compared to a control group. METHODS: Geriatric in-patients over 65 years of age were included in the study, those with cognitive impairment were excluded. Data was collected before (baseline) and after the implementation (intervention) of the Swedish Palliative Care Guide. Patient satisfaction was evaluated two weeks after discharge with questions from a national patient survey. Health-related quality of life was measured with EQ-5D-3L and symptom burden with Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale. RESULTS: In total, 400 patients were included, 200 in the baseline- and intervention group, respectively. Mean age was 83 years in both groups. Patient satisfaction was significantly higher in nine out of ten questions (p = 0.02-<0.001) in the intervention group compared to baseline. No differences between the groups were seen in health-related quality of life or symptom burden. CONCLUSION: A significant effect on patient satisfaction was seen after implementation of the Swedish Palliative Care Guide in geriatric care. Thus, integration of palliative care and geriatrics could be of substantial benefit in the growing population of older adults with multimorbidity and frailty.

Prolonged opioid use after distal radius fracture.

BACKGROUND: Prolonged opioid use (more than 90 days) after injury puts the patient at risk for adverse effects. We investigated the patterns of opioid prescription after distal radius fracture and the effect of pre- and post-fracture factors on the risk for prolonged use. METHODS: This register-based cohort study uses routinely collected health care data, including purchases of prescription opioids, in the county of Skåne, Sweden. 9369 adult patients with a radius fracture diagnosed 2015-2018 were followed for 1 year after fracture. We calculated proportions of patients with prolonged opioid use, both in total and according to different exposures. Using modified Poisson regression, we calculated adjusted risk ratios for the following exposures: previous opioid use, mental illness, consultation for pain, surgery for distal radius fracture and occupational/physical therapy after fracture. RESULTS: Prolonged opioid use (4-6 months after fracture) was found in 664 (7.1%) of the patients. A previous, but discontinued, regular use of opioids up to 5 years before fracture increased the risk compared to opioid-naïve patients. Both regular and non-regular opioid use the year before fracture increased the risk. The risk was also higher for patients with mental illness, and those who were treated with surgery, we found no significant effect of pain consultation in previous year. Occupational/physical therapy lowered the risk for prolonged use. CONCLUSION: Considering history of mental illness and previous opioid use while promoting rehabilitation can be important to prevent prolonged opioid use after distal radius fracture. SIGNIFICANCE: We show that a common injury such as distal radius fracture can be a gateway to prolonged opioid use, especially among patients with previous history of opioid use or mental illness. Importantly, previous opioid use as far back as 5 years earlier greatly increases the risk of regular use after the reintroduction of opioids. Considering past use is important when planning treatment with opioids. Occupational or physical therapy after injury is associated with lower risk of prolonged use and should be encouraged.

Dying during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Sweden: Relatives' Experiences of End-of-Life Care (the CO-LIVE Study).

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has seen many deaths, but the majority were for causes other than COVID-19. However, end-of-life care in all settings has been affected by measures limiting the spread of the virus, for patients with and without COVID-19. The Swedish coronavirus strategy was different compared to many other countries, which might have affected end-of-life care. The aim was to describe the experiences of end-of-life care for bereaved relatives in Sweden during the "first wave" and to compare the experiences for deaths due to COVID-19 with the experiences for deaths for other reasons. Methods: A random sample of addresses for 2400 people who died during March−September 2020 was retrieved from the Swedish Person Address Registry. Relatives were contacted with a questionnaire regarding their experience of end-of-life care, with a focus on communication, participation, and trust. Results: In total, 587 relatives (25% response rate) answered the questionnaire (14% COVID-19-deaths, 65% non-COVID-19-deaths, 21% uncertain). In the COVID-19 group 28% of the relatives were allowed visits without restrictions compared to 60% in the non-COVID-19 group (p < 0.01). Only 28% of the relatives in the COVID-19 group reported that the person received "enough care from physicians", significantly fewer than the non-COVID group (65%, p < 0.01). Conclusion: Relatives' experience of end-of-life care for persons with COVID-19 was significantly worse than relatives of persons without COVID-19, but relatives for persons without COVID-19 were also negatively affected.

Patterns of Communication About Serious Illness in the Years, Months, and Days before Death.

Background: Communication with patients and families about serious illness impacts quality of life and helps facilitate decision-making. Objective: To elucidate the pattern of communication about serious illness for patients who have died in an inpatient setting. Design: Three hundred patients from the Swedish Registry of Palliative Care 2015-2017 were randomly selected for manual chart review. Setting: Patients who died in a palliative care, oncology, or internal medicine unit in Sweden were selected. Measurements: We report on the frequency of conversations at three time points, 6 months or longer before death ("Years"), 15 days-6 months before death ("Months"), and 0-14 days before death ("Days"). We also report the timing of the conversation about dying. Results: A total of 249 patients were included after exclusions; they had an average of 2.1 conversations (range 1-6). The first conversation took place a median of 53 days before death and the last conversation took place a median of 9 days before death. Separate conversations with the next of kin took place a median of two days before death. We could verify a conversation about dying in only 156/249 (63%) medical records. Conclusions: Communication about serious illness between clinicians, patients, and families occurs iteratively over a period before death. Measuring the quality of communication about serious illness using a years, months, and days framework may help ensure that patients and families have sufficient information for medical and personal decision making.

Health care utilization among individuals who die by suicide as compared to the general population: a population-based register study in Sweden.

BACKGROUND: Globally, 700 000 people die every year by suicide. Health care consultation patterns the period before suicide could be one potential way to identify people at risk for suicide. Therefore, this study examines health care patterns up to one year prior to the suicide by age, sex and prior diagnoses and specifically investigates if and how this differs from the general population of Skåne, Sweden. METHODS: This cohort study includes all individuals, aged 15 and older, that died by suicide in Region Skåne, Sweden from 2004 to 2015 (n = 1653). The individuals were identified through the Cause of death register and then linked to the Skåne healthcare register. Health care data was analyzed as proportions consulting different types of health care the month and year preceding the suicide, we also investigated the impact of age, sex and the occurrence of prior psychiatric and pain diagnoses. Additionally, we compared the proportion of consulting care among the suicide victims and the general population of Skåne. RESULTS: In the month before their death, 53% of the suicide victims had any health care consultation, compared with 20% in the general population of Skåne, a given month (p < 0.0001). The corresponding figures for the year prior to suicide was 86% among those who died by suicide, compared to 69% in the general population of Skåne, a given year (p < 0.0001). Women, and those having a documented history of psychiatric diagnosis were more likely to have health care consultations in the month and year preceding suicide (p < 0.001), compared to men and suicide victims without a history of psychiatric disease. Older adults that died by suicide, were less likely to consult psychiatric care compared to the younger suicide victims (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: A majority of the suicide victims consulted health care in the near time before death and the proportion of seeking health care was significantly higher than in the general population of Skåne and higher among female suicide victims as compared to males. Alternative preventive screening measures should be considered for individuals consulting health care, especially for older people and individuals outside the psychiatric care.

Sedation in specialized palliative care: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Palliative sedation is used to relieve refractory symptoms and is part of clinical practice in Sweden. Yet we do not know how frequently this practice occurs, how decision-making takes place, or even which medications are preferentially used. OBJECTIVES: To understand the current practice of palliative sedation in Sweden. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional medical record-based study. For 690 consecutive deceased patients from 11 of 12 specialized palliative care units in the southernmost region of Sweden who underwent palliative sedation during 2016, we collected data on whether the patient died during sedation and, for sedated patients, the decision-making process, medication used, and depth of sedation. RESULTS: Eight percent of patients were sedated. Almost all (94%) were given midazolam, sometimes in combination with propofol. The proportions of sedation were similar in the patient groups with and without cancer. The largest proportion of the sedated patients died in inpatient care, but 23% died at home, with specialized palliative home care. Among the patients with a decision to sedate, 42% died deeply unconscious, while for those without such a decision the corresponding figure was 16%. In only one case was there more than one physician involved in the decision to use palliative sedation. CONCLUSION: 8% of patients in specialized palliative care received palliative sedation, which is lower than international measures but much increased compared to an earlier Swedish assessment. The level of consciousness achieved often did not correspond to the planned level; this, together with indications of a scattered decision process, shows a need for clear guidelines.

Utilization of healthcare and prescription medicines after non-pharmacological interventions for depression - A 3-year register follow-up of an RCT in primary care.

Depression is a common, recurrent disorder. There is a need for readily available treatments with few negative side effects, that demands little resources and that are effective both in the short- and long term. Our aim was to investigate the long-term effectiveness of two different interventions; physical exercise and internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy (internet-CBT), compared to usual care in patients with mild to moderate depression in a Swedish primary care setting. We performed a register-based 3-year follow-up study of participants in the randomized controlled trial REGASSA (n = 940) using healthcare utilization and dispensed medicines as outcomes. We found no difference between the three groups regarding proportion of participants consulting healthcare due to mental illness or pain during follow-up. Regarding number of consultations, there was no difference between the groups, except for consultations related to pain. For this outcome both treatment arms had significantly fewer consultations compared to usual care, during year 2-3, the risk ratio (RR) for physical exercise and internet-CBT was 0.64 (95% CI = 0.43-0.95) and 0.61 (95% CI = 0.41-0.90), respectively. A significantly lower proportion of patients in both treatment arms were dispensed hypnotics and sedatives year 2-3 compared to the usual care arm, RR for both physical exercise and internet-CBT was 0.72 (95% CI = 0.53-0.98). No other differences between the groups were found. In conclusion, considering long-term effects, both physical exercise and internet-CBT, being resource-efficient treatments, could be considered as appropriate additions for patients with mild to moderate depression in primary care settings. Trial registration: The original RCT was registered with the German Clinical Trial Register (DRKS study ID: DRKS00008745).

Diagnostic codes of cancer in Skåne healthcare register: a validation study using individual-level data in southern Sweden.

BACKGROUND: The Swedish healthcare is decentralised to 21 regions. Detailed information on all delivered care in the southernmost region, Skåne, is prospectively collected in the Skåne Healthcare Register (SHR). The data is updated daily and hence a good source for epidemiological studies. However, the diagnostic codes used to identify cancer patients in SHR have not yet been validated. METHODS: We conducted a validation study including 1,473,204 residents in Skåne region during 2005-2014, with at least one physical consultation in SHR. Newly diagnosed cancer from the Swedish Cancer Register was considered the 'gold standard' reference. We estimated the positive predictive value (PPV), sensitivity, and area under the curve (AUC) of a cancer diagnosis based on SHR by level of consultation, for any cancer, and for different cancer types. RESULTS: There were 61,693 cancers from the Swedish Cancer Register, and 87,650 cancers from SHR. The PPV of SHR-based diagnosis of any cancer was 63.76% (95% confidence interval (CI): 63.44-64.08%) with a sensitivity of 90.58% (95% CI: 90.35-90.81%). The AUC was 0.94, for any cancer. The measures of PPV, sensitivity and AUC varied across levels of care and were higher in specialized care than in primary care. The highest PPV was observed for specialist inpatient care in SHR (89.17, 95% CI 88.89-89.45%) whereas the highest sensitivity was observed for specialized outpatient care in SHR (86.39, 95%CI 86.12-86.66%). Robust validity was noted among most cancers, except for cancers of soft tissues, central nervous system and eye, and endocrine glands. CONCLUSIONS: Our study supports that SHR is a valid and robust healthcare register for cancer diagnosis, with varying validities across levels of care and cancer types. This makes SHR a useful data source for cancer epidemiological studies, especially because the data covers the entire cancer care pathways without time lags for further linkage.

Psychiatric Disorders and Cardiovascular Diseases During the Diagnostic Workup of Suspected Prostate Cancer.

Background: It is unknown whether the rate of psychiatric disorders and cardiovascular disease increases during the diagnostic workup of suspected prostate cancer. Methods: We designed a population-based cohort study including 579 992 men living during 2005-2014 in Skåne, Sweden, according to the Swedish Total Population Register and the Skåne Healthcare Register (SHR). We used the Swedish Cancer Register and the SHR to identify all men with a new diagnosis of prostate cancer (N = 10 996), and all men underwent a prostate biopsy without receiving a cancer diagnosis (biopsy group, N = 20 482) as exposed to a diagnostic workup. Using Poisson regression, we compared the rates of psychiatric disorders and cardiovascular disease during the period before diagnosis or biopsy of exposed men with the corresponding rates of unexposed men. Results: We found an increased rate of psychiatric disorders during the period before diagnosis or biopsy among men with prostate cancer (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 1.87, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.67 to 2.10) and men in the biopsy group (IRR = 2.22, 95% CI = 2.08 to 2.37). The rate of cardiovascular disease increased during the period before diagnosis or biopsy among men with prostate cancer (IRR = 2.22, 95% CI = 2.12 to 2.32) and men in the biopsy group (IRR = 2.56, 95% CI = 2.49 to 2.63). Greater rate increases were noted for a diagnostic workup due to symptoms than due to other reasons. Conclusions: There was an increased risk of psychiatric disorders and cardiovascular disease during the diagnostic workup of suspected prostate cancer regardless of the final cancer diagnosis.

Pain Over Two Years After Start of Biologic Versus Conventional Combination Treatment in Early Rheumatoid Arthritis: Results From a Swedish Randomized Controlled Trial.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the pain course between methotrexate (MTX)-refractory early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients randomized to infliximab (IFX) versus sulfasalazine (SSZ) plus hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). METHODS: The randomized, controlled, open-label Swedish Pharmacotherapy (SWEFOT) trial enrolled new-onset RA patients from October 2002 to December 2005. After 3 months of receiving MTX, patients not reaching low disease activity (Disease Activity Score in 28 joints score ≤3.2) were randomized to adding IFX (n = 128) or SSZ plus HCQ (n = 130) and followed for 21 months. Here, outcomes included area under the curve (AUC) for visual analog scale (VAS) scores for pain, unacceptable pain (VAS pain score >40 mm [range 0-100]), and unacceptable pain despite inflammation control (refractory pain; VAS pain score >40 plus C-reactive protein level <10 mg/liter). Between-group differences were analyzed with multivariate regression models. RESULTS: Overall, 50% of randomized patients (n = 258) in the crude setting reported unacceptable pain at randomization, declining to 29% at 21 months (P < 0.001), when refractory pain constituted 82% of all unacceptable pain. Comparing randomized arms (intent-to-treat analysis), the AUC for VAS pain was lower in the MTX plus IFX group (P = 0.01), and at 21 months, 32% of patients receiving MTX plus IFX and 45% receiving MTX plus SSZ plus HCQ had unacceptable pain (adjusted relative risk 0.68 [95% confidence interval 0.51, 0.90]; P = 0.008). Regarding refractory pain, no between-group differences were observed. CONCLUSION: Despite active combination treatment, almost one-third of new-onset RA patients reported unacceptable pain after 21 months, and refractory pain constituted more than 4/5 of this pain load. Adding IFX versus SSZ plus HCQ to MTX reduced both cumulative pain and unacceptable pain at 21 months, suggesting less long-term pain for the biologic therapy. These results display insufficient effects of current treatment strategies on inflammation-independent pain components, warranting alternative approaches in affected patients.

Risk of Injuries around Diagnosis of Cervical Cancer and Its Precursor Lesions: A Nationwide Cohort Study in Sweden.

BACKGROUND: Highly increased risk of injuries has been noted around the time of cancer diagnosis. Whether there is a similar increase in risk around the diagnosis of cervical cancer and its precursor lesions was unknown. METHODS: We performed a cohort study including 3,016,307 Swedish women that participated in cervical screening during 2001 to 2012. We calculated the incidence rates (IR) of hospitalized iatrogenic or noniatrogenic injuries during the diagnostic workup, and the time interval from smear or punch biopsy until surgical treatment or 2 months after the last smear or biopsy, among women with invasive cervical cancer (ICC) or its precursor lesions. We calculated the IRs of injuries during the 2 months after a normal smear among the other women as reference. IR ratios (IRR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using Poisson regression. RESULTS: Compared with other women, there was an increased rate of iatrogenic injuries during the diagnostic workup of women with ICC (IR, 0.58 per 1,000 person-months; IRR, 8.55; 95% CI, 3.69-19.80) as well as of women with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 3 and adenocarcinoma in situ (IR, 0.09 per 1,000 person-months; IRR, 3.04; 95% CI, 1.73-5.34). We also found an increased rate of noniatrogenic injuries during the diagnostic workup of women with invasive cancer (IR, 0.65 per 1,000 person-months; IRR, 2.48; 95% CI, 1.30-4.47). CONCLUSIONS: Although rare, there was an increased risk of inpatient care for iatrogenic and noniatrogenic injuries during the diagnostic workup of women with ICC. IMPACT: Women experienced burden of medical complications and psychologic distress around diagnosis of a potential cervical cancer.

The impact of initial treatment strategy and survival time on quality of end-of-life care among patients with oesophageal and gastric cancer: A population-based cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Oesophageal and gastric cancer are highly lethal malignancies with a 5-year survival rate of 15-29%. More knowledge is needed about the quality of end-of-life care in order to understand the burden of the illness and the ability of the current health care system to deliver timely and appropriate end-of-life care. The aim of this study was to describe the impact of initial treatment strategy and survival time on the quality of end-of-life care among patients with oesophageal and gastric cancer. METHODS: This register-based cohort study included patients who died from oesophageal and gastric cancer in Sweden during 2014-2016. Through linking data from the National Register for Esophageal and Gastric Cancer, the National Cause of Death Register, and the Swedish Register of Palliative Care, 2156 individuals were included. Associations between initial treatment strategy and survival time and end-of-life care quality indicators were investigated. Adjusted risk ratios (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals were calculated using modified Poisson regression. RESULTS: Patients with a survival of ≤3 months and 4-7 months had higher RRs for hospital death compared to patients with a survival ≥17 months. Patients with a survival of ≤3 months also had a lower RR for end-of-life information and bereavement support compared to patients with a survival ≥17 months, while the risks of pain assessment and oral assessment were not associated with survival time. Compared to patients with curative treatment, patients with no tumour-directed treatment had a lower RR for pain assessment. No significant differences were shown between the treatment groups regarding hospital death, end-of-life information, oral health assessment, and bereavement support. CONCLUSIONS: Short survival time is associated with several indicators of low quality end-of-life care among patients with oesophageal and gastric cancer, suggesting that a proactive palliative care approach is imperative to ensure quality end-of-life care.

The value of the Skåne Health-care Register: Prospectively collected individual-level data for population-based studies.

Aims: This study aimed to examine the population-based Skåne Health-care Register (SHR) regarding feasibility for scientific research and also strengths and weaknesses. Methods: To analyse the feasibility of the SHR, we performed a bibliographic search for peer-reviewed articles based on SHR data from 2000 to 2018. To analyse strengths and weaknesses, we used original SHR data about coverage and validity. Results: We identified 58 articles based on SHR data, covering different study designs and disorders. Most studies focused on musculoskeletal disorders with a cohort design. The majority of all consultations recorded in the SHR have an assigned diagnosis. However, this differs between the levels of care and between types of consultation. For inpatient care, the proportion of consultations with an assigned diagnosis was close to 100% between 1998 and 2017. The proportion of consultations with an assigned diagnosis was lowest within primary care, although the proportion markedly increased in 2004 when the prerequisite for consultation reimbursement was linked to the requirement for an assigned diagnosis. Limitations are that the SHR does not cover health-care provided within nursing homes and equivalent facilities or treatments received by the population of Skåne outside the region. Conclusions: The SHR may be used as a reliable data source for analyses of clinical changes and improvements. Extended use of the SHR in a research context may highlight important shortcomings within the register and thus serve as a way of indirect quality control. To enhance the use of the SHR further, better harmonisation between registers, within and outside of the region and internationally, is of crucial importance.

Psychiatric disorders and cardiovascular diseases during the diagnostic workup of potential breast cancer: a population-based cohort study in Skåne, Sweden.

BACKGROUND: An increasing number of women are evaluated for potential breast cancer and may experience mental distress during evaluation. We aim to assess the risks of psychiatric disorders and cardiovascular diseases during the diagnostic workup of potential breast cancer. METHODS: All women with a new diagnosis of unspecified lump in breast (N = 15,714), benign tumor or breast cancer in situ (N = 4435), or breast cancer (N = 8512) during 2005-2014 in Skåne, Sweden, were considered as exposed to a breast diagnostic workup. We used multivariable Poisson regression to compare rates of psychiatric disorders and cardiovascular diseases during the 6 weeks before the date of diagnosis of these women with the corresponding rates of women not undergoing such workup. The commonest waiting time for breast cancer patients was 6 weeks during the study period. A within-individual comparison was performed to control for potential unmeasured time-stationary confounders. RESULTS: Compared to the reference, we found a higher rate of psychiatric disorders during the 6 weeks before diagnosis of benign tumor or breast cancer in situ (incidence rate ratio [IRR], 1.3; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.1 to 1.5) and breast cancer (IRR, 1.4; 95% CI, 1.2 to 1.6). A higher rate was also noted for cardiovascular diseases (IRR, 1.3; 95% CI, 1.1 to 1.6 for benign tumor or breast cancer in situ, and IRR, 1.9; 95% CI, 1.8 to 2.0 for breast cancer). The rate increases for breast cancer were greater comparing a diagnostic workup due to symptoms to a workup due to screening. Little rate increase of neither psychiatric disorders nor cardiovascular diseases was noted during the 6 weeks before the diagnosis of unspecified lump in breast. The within-individual comparison largely confirmed these findings. CONCLUSIONS: Women with benign and malignant breast tumor had increased rates of psychiatric disorders and cardiovascular diseases during the waiting for a final diagnosis.

Cardiovascular Diseases And Psychiatric Disorders During The Diagnostic Workup Of Suspected Hematological Malignancy.

BACKGROUND: Little attention has been given to the risk of cardiovascular and psychiatric comorbidities during the clinical evaluation of a suspected hematological malignancy. METHODS: Based on Skåne Healthcare Register, we performed a population-based cohort study of 1,527,449 individuals residing during 2005-2014 in Skåne, Sweden. We calculated the incidence rate ratios (IRRs) of cardiovascular diseases or psychiatric disorders during the diagnostic workup of 5495 patients with hematological malignancy and 18,906 individuals that underwent a bone marrow aspiration or biopsy or lymph node biopsy without receiving a diagnosis of any malignancy ("biopsied individuals"), compared to individuals without such experience (i.e., reference). RESULTS: There was a higher rate of cardiovascular diseases during the diagnostic workup of patients with hematological malignancy (overall IRR, 3.3; 95% CI, 2.9 to 3.8; greatest IRR for embolism and thrombosis, 8.1; 95% CI, 5.2 to 12.8) and biopsied individuals (overall IRR, 4.9; 95% CI, 4.6 to 5.3; greatest IRR for stroke, 37.5; 95% CI, 34.1 to 41.2), compared to reference. Similarly, there was a higher rate of psychiatric disorders during the diagnostic workup of patients with hematological malignancy (IRR, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.5 to 2.8) and biopsied individuals (IRR, 3.1; 95% CI, 2.9 to 3.4). The rate increases were greater around the time of diagnosis or biopsy, compared to thereafter, for both outcomes. CONCLUSION: There were higher rates of cardiovascular diseases and psychiatric disorders during the diagnostic workup of a suspected hematological malignancy, regardless of the final diagnosis.

Dying With Unrelieved Pain-Prescription of Opioids Is Not Enough.

CONTEXT: Fear of pain resonates with most people, in particular, in relation to dying. Despite this, there are still people dying with unrelieved pain. OBJECTIVES: We quantified the risk, and investigated risk factors, for dying with unrelieved pain in a nationwide observational cohort study. METHODS: Using data from Swedish Register of Palliative Care, we analyzed 161,762 expected deaths during 2011-2015. The investigated risk factors included cause of death, place of death, absence of an end-of-life (EoL) conversation, and lack of contact with pain management expertise. Modified Poisson regression models were fitted to estimate risk ratios (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for dying with unrelieved pain. RESULTS: Unrelieved pain during the final week of life was reported for 25% of the patients with pain, despite prescription of opioids PRN in 97% of cases. Unrelieved pain was common both among patients dying of cancer and of nonmalignant chronic diseases. Statistically significant risk factors for unrelieved pain included hospital death (RR = 1.84, 95% CI 1.79-1.88) compared with dying in specialist palliative care, absence of an EoL conversation (RR = 1.42, 95% CI 1.38-1.45), and dying of cancer in the bones (RR = 1.13, 95% CI 1.08-1.18) or lung (RR = 1.10, 95% CI 1.06-1.13) compared with nonmalignant causes. CONCLUSION: Despite almost complete prescription of opioids PRN for patients with pain, patients die with unrelieved pain. Health care providers, hospitals in particular, need to focus more on pain in dying patients. An EoL conversation is one achievable intervention.

A diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis, endometriosis or IBD is associated with later onset of fibromyalgia and chronic widespread pain.

BACKGROUND: Widespread pain is a common comorbidity in several chronic diseases and is suspected to be caused by pain resulting from the underlying disease that has provoked a state of central sensitization. However, this argument is currently limited by evidence that has insufficiently captured the temporal nature of the relationship between diagnosis of the underlying disease and onset of widespread pain. The aim of this study was to investigate if patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), endometriosis or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), have a higher risk of developing widespread pain (fibromyalgia or chronic widespread pain [CWP]). METHODS: Using the Swedish Skåne Healthcare register on health care consultation, a cohort of 889,938 adult patients were followed from 2007 to 2016 and incident cases of RA, endometriosis or IBD and of fibromyalgia and CWP were identified by registered diagnoses. Using Poisson regression, we calculated incidence rate ratios (IRR) adjusted for sex, age, education and propensity to seek health care. RESULTS: For patients with RA the IRR for later fibromyalgia was 3.64 (95% CI: 2.75-4.81) compared to patients without RA, for CWP it was 2.96 (95% CI: 1.81-4.86). For endometriosis patients the IRR for fibromyalgia was 2.83 (95% CI: 1.96-4.08) and for CWP 5.02 (95% CI: 3.10-8.13). IBD patients had an IRR = 2.32 (95% CI: 1.58-3.42) for fibromyalgia and 1.42 (95% CI: 0.93-2.17) for CWP. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that RA, endometriosis and IBD are all risk factors for later fibromyalgia and CWP, consistent with a hypothesis of central sensitization as an effect of a painful underlying condition. SIGNIFICANCE: We show that RA, endometriosis and IBD predisposes for later fibromyalgia and CWP, a common hypothesis previously difficult to verify due to lack of longitudinal data. The results inform further research regarding the aetiology of fibromyalgia and CWP and stress the need of clinical focus on the pain itself in chronic diseases with pain as a symptom.

Quality of care for the dying across different levels of palliative care development: A population-based cohort study.

BACKGROUND: There is a lack of knowledge about how the provision and availability of specialized palliative care relates to the quality of dying in hospital and community-based settings. AIM: We aimed to explore the quality of care during last week of life in relation to different levels of palliative care development. DESIGN: We investigated access to palliative care in Southern Sweden, where one region offers palliative care in accordance with European Association for Palliative Care guidelines for capacity, and the other region offers less developed palliative care. Data on approximately 12,000 deaths during 2015 were collected from the Swedish Register of Palliative Care. The quality of care was investigated by region, and was measured in terms of assessment of oral health and of pain, and end-of-life conversation, companionship at death and artificial nutrition/fluid in the last 24 h. RESULTS: The overall quality of care during last week of life was not consistently better in the region with fully developed palliative care compared with the less developed region. In fact, for patients dying in hospitals and community-based settings, the quality was statistically significantly better in the less developed region. The small proportion of patients who had access to specialized palliative care had superior quality of care during the last week of life as compared to patients in other care settings. CONCLUSION: The capacity of specialized palliative care does not per se influence the quality of care during the last week of life for patients in other settings.

Feasibility of reusing time-matched controls in an overlapping cohort.

The methods developed for secondary analysis of nested case-control data have been illustrated only in simplified settings in a common cohort and have not found their way into biostatistical practice. This paper demonstrates the feasibility of reusing prior nested case-control data in a realistic setting where a new outcome is available in an overlapping cohort where no new controls were gathered and where all data have been anonymised. Using basic information about the background cohort and sampling criteria, the new cases and prior data are "aligned" to identify the common underlying study base. With this study base, a Kaplan-Meier table of the prior outcome extracts the risk sets required to calculate the weights to assign to the controls to remove the sampling bias. A weighted Cox regression, implemented in standard statistical software, provides unbiased hazard ratios. Using the method to compare cases of contralateral breast cancer to available controls from a prior study of metastases, we identified a multifocal tumor as a risk factor that has not been reported previously. We examine the sensitivity of the method to an imperfect weighting scheme and discuss its merits and pitfalls to provide guidance for its use in medical research studies.