Complex Care Needs at the End of Life for Seriously Ill Adults With Multiple Chronic Conditions.
Komal Patel Murali, John D Merriman, Gary Yu and 3 others
PMID 37040386WHAT IT FOUND
Seriously ill adults with multiple chronic conditions but no cancer had worse function and more medications than those with cancer.
Nurses should expect higher polypharmacy and lower mobility in non-cancer MCC patients at end of life.
Key findings
01Participants with multiple chronic conditions without cancer had significantly lower functional status than those with cancer.
02Total medication count was significantly higher in the non-cancer group compared to the cancer group.
03Higher hospice enrollment was associated with having multiple chronic conditions without cancer.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study only counted diseases captured by the Charlson Comorbidity Index, potentially missing other chronic conditions. Results may not generalize beyond seriously ill adults in palliative or hospice settings with limited life expectancy. The sample lacked racial and ethnic diversity. The study was a secondary analysis of baseline data, so it describes associations rather than causal effects of interventions.
Declared interests
The parent study was funded by N.I.H. Extramural and Non-U.S. Gov't grants. No specific conflicts of interest regarding the secondary analysis are detailed in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that patients with multiple chronic conditions but no cancer have better quality of life than cancer patients; the study found no significant difference in overall quality of life scores between the groups.