Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - General practitioner awareness of preferred place of death and correlates of dying in a preferred place
T2 - a nationwide mortality follow-back study in the Netherlands
AU - Abarshi, Ebun
AU - Onwuteaka-Philipsen, Bregje
AU - Donker, Gé
AU - Echteld, Michael
AU - Van den Block, Lieve
AU - Deliens, Luc
PY - 2009/10
Y1 - 2009/10
N2 - To improve the quality of end-of-life care, general practitioner (GP) awareness of where their patients prefer to die is important. To examine GP awareness of patients' preferred place of death (POD), associated patient- and care-related characteristics, and the congruence between preferred and actual POD in The Netherlands, a mortality follow-back study was conducted between January 2005 and December 2006. Standardized registration forms were used to collect data on all nonsudden deaths (n=637) by means of the Dutch Sentinel Network, a nationally representative network of general practices. Forty-six percent of patients had GPs who were not aware of their preferred POD. Of those whose GPs were aware, 88% had preferred to die in a private or care home, 10% in a hospice or palliative care unit, and 2% in a hospital. GPs were informed by the patients themselves in 84% of cases. Having financial status "above average," a life-prolongation or palliative care goal, and using specialist palliative care services were associated with higher GP-awareness odds. Four-fifth of patients with known preferred POD died there. There is a potential for improving GP awareness of patients' preferred POD. Such awareness is enhanced when palliation is an active part of end-of-life care. The hospital is the POD least preferred by dying patients.
AB - To improve the quality of end-of-life care, general practitioner (GP) awareness of where their patients prefer to die is important. To examine GP awareness of patients' preferred place of death (POD), associated patient- and care-related characteristics, and the congruence between preferred and actual POD in The Netherlands, a mortality follow-back study was conducted between January 2005 and December 2006. Standardized registration forms were used to collect data on all nonsudden deaths (n=637) by means of the Dutch Sentinel Network, a nationally representative network of general practices. Forty-six percent of patients had GPs who were not aware of their preferred POD. Of those whose GPs were aware, 88% had preferred to die in a private or care home, 10% in a hospice or palliative care unit, and 2% in a hospital. GPs were informed by the patients themselves in 84% of cases. Having financial status "above average," a life-prolongation or palliative care goal, and using specialist palliative care services were associated with higher GP-awareness odds. Four-fifth of patients with known preferred POD died there. There is a potential for improving GP awareness of patients' preferred POD. Such awareness is enhanced when palliation is an active part of end-of-life care. The hospital is the POD least preferred by dying patients.
KW - General practitioner awareness
KW - GP
KW - Sentinel Network
KW - place of death
KW - end-of-life care
KW - The Netherlands
U2 - 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2008.12.007
DO - 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2008.12.007
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 19692201
VL - 38
SP - 568
EP - 577
JO - Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
JF - Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
SN - 0885-3924
IS - 4
ER -