Association Between Palliative Care and Patient and Caregiver Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

The use of palliative care programs and the number of trials assessing their effectiveness have increased.

Objective

To determine the association of palliative care with quality of life (QOL), symptom burden, survival, and other outcomes for people with life-limiting illness and for their caregivers.

Data sources

MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and Cochrane CENTRAL to July 2016.

Study selection

Randomized clinical trials of palliative care interventions in adults with life-limiting illness.

Data extraction and synthesis

Two reviewers independently extracted data. Narrative synthesis was conducted for all trials. Quality of life, symptom burden, and survival were analyzed using random-effects meta-analysis, with estimates of QOL translated to units of

SUBMITTER: Kavalieratos D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5226373 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature