Early referral to palliative care leads to quickly improved COVID-19 symptoms and may increase survival and quality of life, a new study finds. Evidence points to severe breathlessness as a telltale sign that referral is urgently needed, investigators say.
Study participants included 572 patients with an average age of 77 who received palliative care across 25 centers in the United Kingdom. Investigators examined demographic, clinical, outcome and survival data. They also looked at symptom severity at referral, first COVID-19 assessment and in three follow-up assessments.
Only 13% of patients were already receiving palliative care when they contracted the virus, and 87% were newly referred to palliative care with COVID-19.
COVID-19 symptoms improved quickly for all patients, who spent an average of 46 hours in palliative care. But the newly referred patients did not survive as long as those who were already being supported by palliative care, reported Professor Irene Higginson, of King’s College London.
The most common symptoms were breathlessness, weakness and lack of energy, drowsiness, anxiety, agitation, confusion and/or delirium and pain. In addition, COVID-19 patients receiving palliative care had an average of two other comorbidities such as diabetes or high blood pressure, the researchers found.
Worsening breathlessness, agitation and multimorbidity could be used as triggers for timelier referrals to palliative care, helping clinicians identify patients who require the support sooner, Higginson said in a statement.
“This would improve people’s symptoms and quality of life. There is no evidence that their length of life would be affected, so it seems like a sensible step to take.”
The study was published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management.
Related articles:
Faithfully merging palliative care and infection control reduces harmful resident transfers: study
Validating fears helps shift patients’ palliative care expectations: study
U.S. palliative care duration comes up short, international study finds
This article originally appeared on McKnight's Long-Term Care News
