Interventions to promote readiness for advance care planning: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Advance care planning is recommended as part of standard medical services. Readiness, denoting stages of behavior change, exerts a substantial influence on its uptake. However, the characteristics and impacts of advance care planning interventions on readiness are not well-established. METHOD: We systematically reviewed and conducted a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials assessing the effects of advance care planning interventions on readiness. Studies were appraised using Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal tools. Meta-analyses were performed using mean difference of continuous variables or risk ratios of binary variables and their 95 % confidence interval as the pooled effect sizes. RESULTS: Eight studies were included in this review and were all rated low quality. Meta-analysis showed that interventions resulted in slight improvement in overall readiness (mean difference = 0.19, 95 % confidence interval: 0.02-0.36) for advance care planning. However, statistically significant effects of interventions were not identified for readiness in relation to specific behaviors (appointment of a healthcare proxy, talking to a healthcare proxy, talking to a medical practitioner about living wills, and signing a living will). CONCLUSION: Our meta-analyses demonstrated that interventions can improve the overall readiness for advance care planning, suggesting the necessity to integrate readiness into future health policies and clinical practices. Nevertheless, the absence of significant effects on specific behavioral readiness underscores the requirement for additional refinement in intervention design, advanced technologies, and theoretical foundations. REGISTRATION: Not registered.

Ocular biomarkers: useful incidental findings by deep learning algorithms in fundus photographs.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Artificial intelligence can assist with ocular image analysis for screening and diagnosis, but it is not yet capable of autonomous full-spectrum screening. Hypothetically, false-positive results may have unrealized screening potential arising from signals persisting despite training and/or ambiguous signals such as from biomarker overlap or high comorbidity. The study aimed to explore the potential to detect clinically useful incidental ocular biomarkers by screening fundus photographs of hypertensive adults using diabetic deep learning algorithms. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Patients referred for treatment-resistant hypertension were imaged at a hospital unit in Perth, Australia, between 2016 and 2022. The same 45° colour fundus photograph selected for each of the 433 participants imaged was processed by three deep learning algorithms. Two expert retinal specialists graded all false-positive results for diabetic retinopathy in non-diabetic participants. RESULTS: Of the 29 non-diabetic participants misclassified as positive for diabetic retinopathy, 28 (97%) had clinically useful retinal biomarkers. The models designed to screen for fewer diseases captured more incidental disease. All three algorithms showed a positive correlation between severity of hypertensive retinopathy and misclassified diabetic retinopathy. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that diabetic deep learning models may be responsive to hypertensive and other clinically useful retinal biomarkers within an at-risk, hypertensive cohort. Observing that models trained for fewer diseases captured more incidental pathology increases confidence in signalling hypotheses aligned with using self-supervised learning to develop autonomous comprehensive screening. Meanwhile, non-referable and false-positive outputs of other deep learning screening models could be explored for immediate clinical use in other populations.

Experiences of parents of trans young people accessing Australian health services for their child: Findings from Trans Pathways.

Background: Many trans young people seek mental health support and gender-affirming medical interventions including puberty suppression, gender-affirming hormones and/or surgeries. Trans young people and their parents face multiple barriers in accessing gender-affirming care and mental health support, however little is known about the parent perspective on accessing services for their trans child. Aims: This study aimed to understand the experiences of parents accessing medical and mental health services with and for their trans children within Australia. Methods: Using data from Trans Pathways, a large mixed-methods cross-sectional study, we examined the experiences of parents (N = 194) in Australia accessing primary care, psychiatry, therapy/counseling, mental health inpatient, and gender-affirming medical services with/for their trans children (aged 25 years or younger). Qualitative data on service experiences were thematically analyzed. Quantitative analyses included frequency of access to services, wait times, service satisfaction, and mental health diagnoses of the parents' trans child. Results: Services were mostly first accessed when the young person was between 12 and 17 years of age, with primary care physicians being the most accessed service. Parents reported that some practitioners were respectful and knowledgeable about gender-affirming care, and others lacked experience in trans health. Across all services, common barriers included long wait times, complicated pathways to navigate to access support, as well as systemic barriers such as sparsity of gender speciality services. Across services, parents reported feeling as though they do not have the necessary tools to best support their child in their gender affirmation. Discussion: This study highlights the crucial need for systemic changes in the processes of accessing gender-affirming care and mental health support to enable access to appropriate and timely care. These findings also indicate the importance of improving individual practitioner knowledge around trans health, to enhance the support provided to trans young people and their parents.

Forest Restoration and the Zoonotic Vector Anopheles balabacensis in Sabah, Malaysia.

Anthropogenic changes to forest cover have been linked to an increase in zoonotic diseases. In many areas, natural forests are being replaced with monoculture plantations, such as oil palm, which reduce biodiversity and create a mosaic of landscapes with increased forest edge habitat and an altered micro-climate. These altered conditions may be facilitating the spread of the zoonotic malaria parasite Plasmodium knowlesi in Sabah, on the island of Borneo, through changes to mosquito vector habitat. We conducted a study on mosquito abundance and diversity in four different land uses comprising restored native forest, degraded native forest, an oil palm estate and a eucalyptus plantation, these land uses varying in their vegetation types and structure. The main mosquito vector, Anopheles balabacensis, has adapted its habitat preference from closed canopy rainforest to more open logged forest and plantations. The eucalyptus plantations (Eucalyptus pellita) assessed in this study contained significantly higher abundance of many mosquito species compared with the other land uses, whereas the restored dipterocarp forest had a low abundance of all mosquitos, in particular, An. balabacensis. No P. knowlesi was detected by PCR assay in any of the vectors collected during the study; however, P. inui, P. fieldi and P. vivax were detected in An. balabacensis. These findings indicate that restoring degraded natural forests with native species to closed canopy conditions reduces abundance of this zoonotic malarial mosquito vector and therefore should be incorporated into future restoration research and potentially contribute to the control strategies against simian malaria.

Stages of readiness for advance care planning: Systematic review and meta-analysis of prevalence rates and associated factors.

BACKGROUND: Advance care planning has been widely recommended to respect the medical care preferences of patients in the final stages of life. However, uptake of advance care planning in healthcare settings remains suboptimal. It may be beneficial to take into account individuals' readiness for advance care planning based on the stages to change identified in the Transtheoretical Model. OBJECTIVE: To identify the measurements used to assess readiness of advance care planning based on the Transtheoretical Model, to pool the prevalence of readiness stages, and to summarize the factors affecting people's readiness for advance care planning. DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis. METHODS: We systematically searched the databases of PubMed, EMBASE, The Cochrane Library, CINAHL, and Web of Science for relevant studies from inception to February 2023. A random effects model was used to estimate the pooled prevalence. And a narrative review on the factors associated with stages of readiness was conducted. RESULTS: This meta-analysis included 25 studies involving a total of 4237 individuals. The precontemplation stage was the most commonly identified stage of readiness among advance care planning behaviors (26-72 %). The prevalence of readiness stages for advance care planning varied among different types of behavior. The behavior of "talking to health care proxy/family/loved ones about thoughts on quality versus quantity of life" had the highest level of readiness among all listed behaviors, followed by "talking to health care proxy/family/loved ones about living will", "signing a health care proxy form" and "signing a living will", "signing an advance directive", as well as "talking to doctors about living will". Regarding to influencing factors, a majority of sociodemographic and clinical factors did not show consistent associations with readiness, but some studies did suggest potential links with age, health status, countries, type of assessment, core structures of the Transtheoretical Model, and intervention modalities. CONCLUSIONS: A majority of individuals were unaware of advance care planning. There is an urgent need to promote readiness for such planning. Starting with preliminary activities such as "talking to health care proxy/family/loved ones about thoughts on quality versus quantity of life" can help initiate advance care planning. Better integration of the Transtheoretical Model and interventions into the research of advance care planning readiness are needed. REGISTRATION: Not registered.

Antidepressant use and hyperactive delirium at the end of life: retrospective study.

OBJECTIVES: Little is known about the adverse effects associated with antidepressant use in palliative care inpatients imminently approaching death. This study investigates the relationship between antidepressant use and hyperactive delirium in this population. METHODS: This is a retrospective medical record review of patients who died in a metropolitan palliative care unit in Victoria, Australia, during 2019. Generalised estimating equations were used to estimate the association between antidepressant use and presence of hyperactive delirium in the final 2 weeks of life. RESULTS: Of the 501 adult patients who died in the 12-month period, 113 (22.55%) were on at least one antidepressant at the time of admission. Any antidepressant use in the last 14 days of life was significantly associated with the diagnosis of hyperactive delirium (OR 1.48; 95% CI 1.30, 1.68). Patients prescribed antidepressants also experienced longer durations of delirium (3.89 days; SD 4.23) compared with those not taking any antidepressant (2.99 days; SD 3.70) in the final 2 weeks of life. CONCLUSION: Antidepressant use or discontinuation is significantly associated with hyperactive delirium within 14 days of death. Although the causes of delirium are multifactorial and complex, antidepressant use is a potentially modifiable risk factor.

Palliative care needs and specialist services post stroke: national population-based study.

OBJECTIVES: (1) To compare palliative care needs of patients admitted primarily with stroke and (2) to determine how the care needs of these patients affect their use of different types of specialist palliative care services. METHODS: Observational study based on point-of-care data from the Australian Palliative Care Outcomes Collaboration. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to explore the association between patients' palliative care needs and use of community versus inpatient specialist palliative care services. RESULTS: The majority of patients who had a stroke in this study population had mild or no symptom distress, but experienced a high degree of functional impairment and needed substantial help with basic tasks of daily living. A lower Australia-modified Karnofsky Performance Status score (OR=1.82, 95% CI 1.06 to 3.13) and occurrence of an 'unstable' palliative care phase (OR=28.34, 95% CI 9.03 to 88.94) were associated with use of inpatient versus community palliative care, but otherwise, no clear association was observed between the majority of symptoms and use of different care services. CONCLUSIONS: Many people with stroke could potentially have been cared for and could have experienced the terminal phases of their condition in a community setting if more community support services were available for their families.

Palliative and End-of-Life Care for People Living with Motor Neurone Disease: Ongoing Challenges and Necessity for Shifting Directions.

Although the progressive clinical trajectory of motor neurone disease (MND) is widely understood, multiple challenges remain preventing optimal end-of-life care for this population with unique needs from the patient, carer and service provider perspectives. This paper reports on the experiences, gaps in service and unmet needs of MND patients and family carers and explores public health palliative care approaches that would facilitate coordinated and integrated care to respond to their changing needs. This is a qualitative study of responses to questions in an online consumer survey (353 respondents) in Western Australia (2020), focusing on a subset of 29 current and bereaved carers of people with MND who have used health services in the last five years. The analysis identified themes, highlighting the insufficient integration of services across health and social care; poor and unequal access to coordinated palliative care; significant gaps in the knowledge base of the workforce and a failure to meet the consumer expectations of person-centred care. For palliative care to be accessible to those living with MND and other under-served conditions, there needs to be a shift to more comprehensive, inclusive and sustainable options, such as the public health approach to palliative/end-of-life care that engages the assets of local communities in partnership with health services, one example being the "Compassionate Communities Connectors" model of care. Further considerations include advocacy for policy changes, fostering partnerships and developing indicators for evaluating the impact of the proposed models of care. The end result is not only better care but substantial savings for the health system.

Are music students at 'high-risk' of experiencing musculoskeletal symptom outcomes compared with other students?

Musicians have been described as a 'high-risk' group for experiencing musculoskeletal symptoms (MSSs), yet few studies have tested this assumption. We aimed to determine whether the prevalence and profile of MSS outcomes differed between university music students and a reference group (science students). A survey was conducted of university music and science students. Reported MSS outcomes among the two groups were compared using regression analyses. The majority of participants in both groups reported experiencing MSSs in the last 12 months and 7 days. Music students reported a higher prevalence of wrist/hand MSSs compared with science students. Compared with symptomatic science students, music students reported a higher emotional impact of MSSs. We recommend prioritizing research into interventions for music students that address MSSs in the wrist/hand region, and the emotional impact of MSSs. Addressing these MSS outcomes could reduce the MSS burden for musicians during and beyond their studies.

Delivery and outcomes of end-of-life care in the Australian context: Experiences and reflections of general practitioners.

Previous research on general practitioners' (GPs') involvement in end-of-life care has largely focused on a specific aspect of care or has provided broad overviews that failed to capture individual variations in patient management. This qualitative study aimed to explore Australian GPs' feedback and reflections on the individual-level care provided for patients in their last year of life. The findings of the study were drawn from a nation-wide survey of GPs' experiences in end-of-life care. We analysed responses from 63 GPs for 267 of the 272 reported deaths. Factors influencing delivery of optimal end-of-life care reported by GPs were categorised into four groups: patient-related factors, carer-related factors, interactions between GPs and patients/carer-related factors and broader health system issues. Each group included both barriers and facilitators. Our study highlighted importance of the emotional dimensions of therapeutic relationships with patients and their family, availability and capacity of family support and smooth communication and continuity of care between GPs and hospitals in delivery of optimal end-of-life care. Lack of these facilitators, misconceptions of palliative care and conflicts on implementing care plans among patients and their family tended to impede delivery of such care. On the basis of our findings in the present study and previous literature, we conclude that improved end-of-life care in general practice requires comprehensive approaches to supporting both the GP and family to provide care in patients' preferred place, such as enhanced palliative care training and improved availability of external support for GPs, higher levels of hospital-based services reaching into community settings and broader community-based resources for families beyond simply the healthcare system.

Musculoskeletal Symptoms in Professional Musicians: Do Self-employed and Employer-employed Musicians Differ?

Concerns have been raised for the health and wellbeing of self-employed workers. Musicians are the 'original' gig workers, and musicians have a high prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms (MSSs). Studies of musicians' MSSs have typically focused on classical, employer-employed musicians; leaving self-employed musicians under-investigated. We investigated the prevalence of MSS outcomes in all types of professional musicians, and compared the MSS outcomes between self-employed and employer-employed musicians. We conducted a cross-sectional study of professional musicians. Given the large proportion of musicians who were both self-employed and employer-employed, three groups were compared: self-employed only (self-employed group), employer-employed only (employer-employed group), and both self-employed and employer-employed (both group) musicians. Multivariable regression analyses were conducted. A total of 225 professional musicians were included in the study, 87.9% of whom reported MSSs in the last 12 months. For MSSs that impaired musical activity, the 12-month prevalence was 43.2%. Musicians in the self-employed group reported a significantly higher 7-day prevalence of MSSs compared with those in the employer-employed group. Compared with musicians in the employer-employed group, musicians in the both group reported a higher 12-month prevalence of MSSs that impaired musical activity. A higher proportion of symptomatic musicians in the both group reported seeing a health professional for their MSSs, compared with the employer-employed group. Similarly, symptomatic musicians in the both group reported higher ratings of emotional impact from MSSs, compared with symptomatic musicians in the employer-employed group. The majority of musicians have experienced MSSs. Several significant differences were reported between the three groups of musicians, with musicians in the both group generally reporting poorer MSS outcomes, compared with musicians in the employer-employed group. There are several potential reasons for why musicians who are both self-employed and employer-employed appear to have poorer MSS outcomes, including the stress of balancing multiple demands. Further research is required into the risk factors for MSS outcomes in self-employed musicians, including those who are both self-employed and employer-employed, and interventions should be directed towards self-employed musicians to minimise the MSS burden.

Association of allergic diseases and epilepsy with risk of glioma, meningioma and acoustic neuroma: results from the INTERPHONE international case-control study.

We investigated the association of allergic diseases and epilepsy with risk of brain tumours, in Interphone, a 13-country case-control study. Data were obtained from 2693 glioma cases, 2396 meningioma cases, and 1102 acoustic neuroma cases and their 6321 controls. Conditional logistic regression models were used to estimate pooled odds ratios (ORs) and their respective 95% confidence intervals (CIs), adjusted for education and time at interview. Reduced ORs were observed for glioma in relation to physician-diagnosed asthma (OR = 0.73; CI 0.58-0.92), hay fever (OR 0.72; CI 0.61-0.86), and eczema (OR 0.78, CI 0.64-0.94), but not for meningioma or acoustic neuroma. Previous diagnosis of epilepsy was associated with an increased OR for glioma (2.94; CI 1.87-4.63) and for meningioma (2.12; CI 1.27-3.56), but not for acoustic neuroma. This large-scale case-control study adds to the growing evidence that people with allergies have a lower risk of developing glioma, but not meningioma or acoustic neuroma. It also supports clinical observations of epilepsy prior to the diagnosis of glioma and meningioma.

Provision of end-of-life care in primary care: a survey of issues and outcomes in the Australian context.

OBJECTIVES: To describe general practitioners' (GPs) involvement in end-of-life care, continuity and outcomes of care, and reported management challenges in the Australian context. METHODS: Sixty-three GPs across three Australian states participated in a follow-up survey to report on care provided for decedents in the last year life using a clinic-based data collection process. The study was conducted between September 2018 and August 2019. RESULTS: Approximately one-third of GPs had received formal palliative care training. Practitioners considered themselves as either the primary care coordinator (53.2% of reported patients) or part of the management team (40.4% of reported patients) in the final year of care. In the last week of life, patients frequently experienced reduced appetite (80.6%), fatigue (77.9%) and psychological problems (44.9%), with GPs reporting that the alleviation of these symptoms were less than optimal. Practitioners were highly involved in end-of-life care (eg, home visits, consultations via telephone and family meetings), and perceived higher levels of satisfaction with communication with palliative care services than other external services. For one-third of patients, GPs reported that the last year of care could potentially have been improved. CONCLUSION: There are continuing needs for integration of palliative care training into medical education and reforms of healthcare systems to further support GPs' involvement in end-of-life care. Further, more extensive collection of clinical data is needed to evaluate and support primary care management of end-of-life patients in general practice.

End-of-life care in general practice: clinic-based data collection.

BACKGROUND: There are no processes that routinely assess end-of-life care in Australian general practice. This study aimed to develop a data collection process which could collect observational data on end-of-life care from Australian general practitioners (GPs) via a questionnaire and clinical data from general practice software. METHODS: The data collection process was developed based on a modified Delphi study, then pilot tested with GPs through online surveys across three Australian states and data extraction from general practice software, and finally evaluated through participant interviews. RESULTS: The developed data collection process consisted of three questionnaires: Basic Practice Descriptors (32 items), Clinical Data Query (32 items) and GP-completed Questionnaire (21 items). Data extraction from general practice software was performed for 97 decedents of 10 GPs and gathered data on prescriptions, investigations and referral patterns. Reports on care of 272 decedents were provided by 63 GPs. The GP-completed Questionnaire achieved a satisfactory level of validity and reliability. Our interviews with 23 participating GPs demonstrated the feasibility and acceptability of this data collection process in Australian general practice. CONCLUSIONS: The data collection process developed and tested in this study is feasible and acceptable for Australian GPs, and comprehensively covers the major components of end-of-life care. Future studies could develop an automated data extraction tool to reduce the time and recall burden for GPs. These findings will help build a nationwide integrated information network for primary end-of-life care in Australia.

Comparison of end-of-life care for people living in home settings versus residential aged care facilities: A nationwide study among Australian general practitioners.

We have little knowledge of differences in end-of-life care between home settings and residential aged care facilities (RACFs) where people spend most of their last year of life. This study aimed to compare end-of-life care between home settings and RACFs from the perspective of Australian general practitioners (GPs). A descriptive study was conducted with 62 GPs from Western Australia, Queensland and Victoria. Participants were asked to provide reports on end-of-life care of decedents in their practice using a validated clinic-based data collection process developed by our team between September 2018 and August 2019. Of the 213 reported expected deaths, 66.2% mainly lived at home in the last year of life. People living at home were more likely to die at a younger age (median 77 vs. 88, p < 0.001), to be male (51.1% vs. 33.3%, p = 0.01) and to die of cancer (53.9% vs. 4.2%, p < 0.001) compared to those in RACFs. There were no significant differences between the two patient groups for seven out of the eight assessed symptoms, except nausea. GPs' perceived roles in caring for patients and levels of their involvement in provision of common palliative care services were comparable between the two groups. The usual accommodation setting was most frequently considered the preferred place of death in both groups. However, more home residents ended up dying in hospital compared to RACF residents. There were significantly higher frequencies of end-of-life discussions (ORs ranged 5.46-9.82 for all topic comparisons) with GPs associated with people living at home versus RACFs. One opportunity for improved care is through promoting greater involvement of GPs in end-of-life discussions with RACF residents and staff. In general, more Australians could potentially remain at home until death if provided with greater access to essential specialist palliative care services and supportive services in home settings.

Uptake of advance care planning and its circumstances: An nationwide survey in Australian general practice.

There are potential benefits associated with advance care planning (ACP), and general practitioners (GPs) are well placed to coordinate ACP initiatives with their patients. Few studies have reported on the uptake of different forms of advance care plan conducted by GPs and how this affects patients' place of death. The primary aims of the study were to examine uptake of verbal (conversations regarding care preferences) and written (documented care preferences) advance care plans and their associated factors from the perspective of Australian GPs. The secondary aim was to determine the impact of different types of advance care plans on place of death. Sixty-one GPs from three Australian states used a validated clinic-based data collection process to report on care provided for decedents in the last year of life, including provision of services, place of death, and uptake of ACP. We found that 58 (27.9%), 91 (43.7%) and 59 (28.4%) reported decedents had no advance care plans, verbal plans or written plans, respectively. There were increased uptake of both verbal plans (relative risk ratio [RRR] = 13.10, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.18-77.34) and written plans (RRR = 10.61, 95% CI: 1.72-65.57) if GPs foresaw the death for >90 days versus <7 days. Palliative care training history for GPs predicted uptake of verbal plans (RRR = 5.83, 95% CI: 1.46-31.93). Patients with verbal plans versus no plans were more likely to die at a private residence (odds ratio = 4.97, 95% CI: 1.32-18.63). Our findings suggest that expectation of death for at least three months prior to the event (where clinically possible) and palliative care training for GPs improve the uptake of ACP in general practice. Larger pragmatic trials are required to determine the impact of ACP on patients' place of death.

Diagnostic radiological examinations and risk of intracranial tumours in adults-findings from the Interphone Study.

BACKGROUND: Exposure to high doses of ionizing radiation is among the few well-established brain tumour risk factors. We used data from the Interphone study to evaluate the effects of exposure to low-dose radiation from diagnostic radiological examinations on glioma, meningioma and acoustic neuroma risk. METHODS: Brain tumour cases (2644 gliomas, 2236 meningiomas, 1083 neuromas) diagnosed in 2000-02 were identified through hospitals in 13 countries, and 6068 controls (population-based controls in most centres) were included in the analysis. Participation across all centres was 64% for glioma cases, 78% for meningioma cases, 82% for acoustic neuroma cases and 53% for controls. Information on previous diagnostic radiological examinations was obtained by interviews, including the frequency, timing and indication for the examinations. Typical brain doses per type of examination were estimated based on the literature. Examinations within the 5 years before the index date were excluded from the dose estimation. Adjusted odds ratios were estimated using conditional logistic regression. RESULTS: No materially or consistently increased odds ratios for glioma, meningioma or acoustic neuroma were found for any specific type of examination, including computed tomography of the head and cerebral angiography. The only indication of an elevated risk was an increasing trend in risk of meningioma with the number of isotope scans, but no such trends for other examinations were observed. No gradient was found in risk with estimated brain dose. Age at exposure did not substantially modify the findings. Sensitivity analyses gave results consistent with the main analysis. CONCLUSIONS: There was no consistent evidence for increased risks of brain tumours with X-ray examinations, although error from selection and recall bias cannot be completely excluded. A cautious interpretation is warranted for the observed association between isotope scans and meningioma.

Symptom trajectories for palliative care inpatients with and without hyperactive delirium in the last week of life.

AIMS: Hyperactive delirium (HD) is a common and distressing symptom among palliative care patients. This study aimed to describe the characteristics of HD and associated symptoms among palliative care inpatients and evaluate relationships between HD development and symptom trajectories in this population. DESIGN: A retrospective study was conducted. METHODS: A retrospective review of medical records was conducted for all patients who died in a large Australian specialist palliative care unit between 1 January and 31 December 2019. Patients were assessed daily using the Symptoms Assessment Scale (SAS) and Palliative Care Problem Severity Scale (PCPSS). Multilevel models were used to estimate the differences in symptoms trajectories in the last 7 days of life between the two groups. RESULTS: Of the 501 included patients, 64.5% (323) had an episode of HD. For 30% (95) of patients, HD occurred prior to admission. Compared with patients without HD, those with HD had significantly higher odds ratios (ORs) for four of the seven SAS symptoms (sleep problems, appetite, fatigue and pain; OR range: 1.94-4.48, p < .05), and all four PCPSS items (OR range: 2.00-3.00, p < .05) in the last week of life. CONCLUSIONS: Palliative care inpatients commonly experience HD in their last week of life. There are higher levels of symptom distress, complexity, psychological concerns and family/carer concerns among patients with HD compared with those without HD. IMPACT: The high prevalence of HD, and its association with higher levels of symptom distress, highlights the importance of routine screening and optimal management for HD among palliative care patients. Given the widely recognized challenges facing palliative care professionals in assessment and management of delirium, provision of relevant training among these professionals is recommended.

Musculoskeletal symptoms in university music students: does major matter?

We aimed to evaluate and compare the prevalence and profile of musculoskeletal symptom (MSS) outcomes across cohorts of university music students with different 'majors': (i) performance and nonperformance students, and (ii) classical and non-classical performance students. Data were collected using a cross-sectional questionnaire survey, and regression analyses were used to compare the groups. Of the 166 participating students, 92.5% reported experiencing MSSs in the last 12 months, and 72.6% in the last 7 days. Few significant differences were identified between groups. Musculoskeletal symptoms are a problem for all types of university music students, and all should have access to support to prevent and manage their MSSs, regardless of their majors.