Palliative care raises quality of life, but doesn't extend it

Palliative care can ease the burden that a serious illness places on both a patient and loved ones, but there's no evidence that it can extend the life of a sick person, a review of the available evidence has concluded.
People who receive palliative care have better quality of life and fewer symptoms than people who don't receive such care, said study lead author Dio Kavalieratos. He is an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine's Section of Palliative Care and Medical Ethics.
But there's no evidence that palliative care has any impact on how long a patient will live, Kavalieratos added. "We didn't find an association at all," he said. "There was no relationship between receiving palliative care and time until death."
Palliative care focuses on providing seriously ill patients relief from their symptoms, pain and stress, regardless of their diagnosis, Kavalieratos said. While symptom management is emphasized, palliative care also includes help with decision-making and psychological support for patients and loved ones.
For this report -- the first evidence review of palliative care's effect on patients' survival and quality of life -- researchers analyzed data from 43 clinical trials involving over 12,700 adults with a serious illness and nearly 2,500 of their family caregivers.
Individual studies have found a potential survival benefit from palliative care, helping patients live a few months longer, Kavalieratos said. His research team wanted to see if all current scientific evidence would back that up, if pooled together.
"The pathway between receiving palliative care and survival, it intuitively makes sense," Kavalieratos said, noting that patients receiving palliative care are suffering less and therefore not stressed about their illness as much. "You could probably make a plausible biological argument that they might live longer," he added.
On the other hand, palliative care is meant to be an extra layer of care added on top of whatever treatment a person might be receiving to cure or delay the illness. "To be fair, palliative care's intent isn't to have an impact on mortality," Kavalieratos said.
The researchers found that palliative care did provide clinically significant improvements in patients' quality-of-life burden at one-month and three-month follow-ups, based on evidence drawn from 15 applicable trials.                                                                       
HealthDay

 

Palliative care raises quality of life, but doesnt extend it

Palliative care can ease the burden that a serious illness places on both a patient and loved ones, but theres no evidence that it can extend the life of a sick person, a review of the available evidence has concluded. People who receive palliative care have better quality of life and fewer symptoms than people who dont receive such care, said study lead author Dio Kavalieratos. He is an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicines Section of Palliative Care and Medical Ethics. But theres no evidence that palliative care has any impact on how long a patient will live, Kavalieratos added. We didnt find an association at all, he said. There was no relationship between receiving palliative care and time until death. Palliative care focuses on providing seriously ill patients relief from their symptoms, pain and stress, regardless of their diagnosis, Kavalieratos said. While symptom management is emphasized, palliative care also includes help with decision-making and psychological support for patients and loved ones. For this report -- the first evidence review of palliative cares effect on patients survival and quality of life -- researchers analyzed data from 43 clinical trials involving over 12,700 adults with a serious illness and nearly 2,500 of their family caregivers. Individual studies have found a potential survival benefit from palliative care, helping patients live a few months longer, Kavalieratos said. His research team wanted to see if all current scientific evidence would back that up, if pooled together. The pathway between receiving palliative care and survival, it intuitively makes sense, Kavalieratos said, noting that patients receiving palliative care are suffering less and therefore not stressed about their illness as much. You could probably make a plausible biological argument that they might live longer, he added. On the other hand, palliative care is meant to be an extra layer of care added on top of whatever treatment a person might be receiving to cure or delay the illness. To be fair, palliative cares intent isnt to have an impact on mortality, Kavalieratos said. The researchers found that palliative care did provide clinically significant improvements in patients quality-of-life burden at one-month and three-month follow-ups, based on evidence drawn from 15 applicable trials. HealthDay