Prescription of essential medication during the final hospitalization of patients with heart failure or cancer.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Four medication types-opioids, benzodiazepines, anticholinergics, and antipsychotics-have been proposed as essential for patients in their final days, regardless of their primary diagnosis. These drugs are typically prescribed for individuals with cancer who are under specialized palliative care (PC+). However, it is not known whether their usage is equally common for patients with other chronic and progressive conditions, such as heart failure (HF), or for those who are not under specialized palliative care (PC-).

Aim

To assess the prescription frequency of each of the four medication types during the final hospitalization of patients with HF and compare it with the prescription frequency in patients with cancer (CA), considering both PC + and PC- patients in eac

SUBMITTER: Gonzalez-Jaramillo V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11863666 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature