End-of-Life Care and Bereavement Issues in Human Immunodeficiency Virus-AIDS.
Karl Goodkin, Sindhura Kompella, Steven F Kendell
PMID 29362056WHAT IT FOUND
People with HIV/AIDS can face overlapping end-of-life issues: fatigue, pain, insomnia, mood, cognition, body image, dying, and bereavement.
Nurses can assess and support these, though this review does not test specific interventions.
Key findings
01Fatigue affects 20% to 60% of patients with HIV/AIDS, and anemia is an important cause of fatigue and a known risk factor for mortality.
02Pain is frequent and under-treated: a review of 61 studies found point prevalence of 54% to 83% over a three-month recall, and all studies reporting adequacy recorded marked under-treatment.
03The review describes end-of-life care in HIV/AIDS as overlapping palliative, hospice, dying, and bereavement stages, with support extending to loved ones.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This is a narrative review, not an original study, so it does not directly test a care model or intervention. The supplied text does not describe a systematic search or appraisal method. Many statements are expert recommendations or summaries of selected prior studies rather than tested interventions. Some cited evidence comes from small or specific groups, such as a 44-person body image trial and bereavement research in men who have sex with men. The review spans HIV/AIDS care stages and symptoms, so it may not provide enough detail to implement any single intervention.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this review as proof that any named symptom treatment works on its own. Patients often receive ART and several other therapies at the same time, and this narrative review does not isolate those effects.