Estimating the effect of palliative care interventions and advance care planning on ICU utilization: a systematic review.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

We conducted a systematic review to answer three questions: 1) Do advance care planning and palliative care interventions lead to a reduction in ICU admissions for adult patients with life-limiting illnesses? 2) Do these interventions reduce ICU length of stay? and 3) Is it possible to provide estimates of the magnitude of these effects?

Data sources

We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Controlled Clinical Trials, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature databases from 1995 through March 2014.

Study selection

We included studies that reported controlled trials (randomized and nonrandomized) assessing the impact of advance care planning and both primary and specialty palliative care interventions on ICU admissions and ICU length of stay f

SUBMITTER: Khandelwal N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4499326 | biostudies-literature | 2015 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature