Geographic Variation in Knowledge of Palliative Care Among US Adults: Findings From 2018 Health Information National Trends Survey.
Guanming Chen, Young-Rock Hong, Diana J Wilkie and 3 others
PMID 32757758WHAT IT FOUND
Across four US regions, adults' self-reported palliative care knowledge was similar.
Most respondents had no palliative care knowledge, and 34.8% to 44.5% disagreed that it could give more time at the end of life.
Key findings
01Across the four main US regions, self-reported palliative care knowledge was similar.
02Most respondents had no knowledge of palliative care, with the highest prevalence in the Midwest (74.4%).
03Between 34.8% and 44.5% disagreed that palliative care could give patients more time at the end of life, and Midwest respondents were more likely to agree that accepting palliative care means stopping other treatments.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
It surveyed general US adults, not specifically patients with cancer or families receiving palliative care, so it may not reflect the people nurses most often discuss palliative care with. Knowledge was self-reported from one question, not tested, and answers were grouped into broad categories. The survey was cross-sectional and used one year of data, so it cannot show trends or cause of differences. The main regional comparison found no difference, while census division findings were secondary and may be chance or confounded. Of 3504 completed surveys, 3194 were analysed after respondents were excluded for missing key answers. It did not measure palliative care use, patient outcomes, or whether education changed anything.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that palliative care knowledge varies clearly across the four US regions or that education will improve patient care. The main regional comparison did not show a difference, the sample was general adults rather than patients with cancer, and no intervention was tested.