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Aim and Objectives: To assess (1) the experience, knowledge and preferences of end‐of‐life care among frail nursing home residents and (2) the preferences of residents' family caregivers. Background: Globally, nursing homes are becoming an important place where many older people will receive their end‐of‐life care. Thus, assessing the end‐of‐life care preferences among nursing home residents is crucial. Design: Cross‐sectional survey. Methods: Residents aged ≥65 years, with frail or pre‐frail status (n = 286) in 34 nursing homes were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the outcomes and regression analyses were used to evaluate factors related to the outcomes. Kappa statistics were used to examine the agreement between the preferences among 21 residents and their family caregivers. The manuscript was guided by the STROBE checklist. Results: 5.9% and 10.5% of the participants had heard of advance care planning and advance directive respectively. After explanations of the terms by the research team, 42.3% of the participants preferred advance care planning, whereas 22.0% preferred advance directive. The top reason for not preferring advance care planning/advance directive is perceiving them as 'not necessary'. Nursing homes were the most preferred place to receive end‐of‐life care (41.6%). Whereas hospitals were the most preferred place for death (36.0%). The agreement among resident and family caregiver dyads ranged from none to minimal in most outcomes. Conclusions: This study revealed the lack of awareness around advance care planning and advance directive among frail nursing home residents. Future research should focus on developing effective educational interventions to enhance the residents' awareness of these topics. Relevance to clinical practice: To increase awareness among nursing home residents, more educational programs should be implemented. Frail older residents might not see the relevance of advance care planning; interventions need to include both current and future care to increase its relevance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Signing advance directives (ADs) ensures that terminally ill patients receive end-of-life care, according to their wishes, thereby promoting human dignity and sparing them from unnecessary suffering. Despite the enactment of the Hospice Palliative Care Act in Taiwan in 2000, the completion rates of ADs have been found to be low among patients with chronic illness conditions. To date, limited existing research is available regarding the factors associated with AD completion in terminally ill patients in Taiwan. To explore signed AD characteristics, compare differences in signing ADs between patients with and without cancer, and examine the factors associated with signing ADs in terminally ill patients. Methods: A nationwide study was conducted using data collected via a retrospective review of medical death records from 18 randomly selected hospitals in the northern, central, and southern parts of Taiwan. We collected 200 records, including both cancer and non-cancer-related deaths, from each hospital. Univariate and multivariate logistics regressions were conducted to examine factors associated with signing advance directives among all patients- with and without cancer. Results: Among the 3004 reviewed medical records, 79% had signed ADs, with most (95%) being signed by patients' caregivers. A higher education level (OR = 1.52, 95% CI = 1.10, 2.08, p = 0.010); cancer diagnosis (OR = 2.37, 95% CI = 1.79, 3.16, p < 0.001); having family members (OR = 5.62, 95% CI = 2.95, 10.69, p < 0.001), care homes (OR = 4.52, 95% CI = 1.97, 10.38, p < 0.001), friends, or maids (OR = 3.82, 95% CI = 1.76, 8.29, p = 0.001) as primary caregivers; and patients knowing about their poor prognosis (OR = 15.39, 95% CI = 5.66, 41.83, p < 0.001) were associated with a higher likelihood of signing ADs. Conclusions: Patients with non-malignant chronic illnesses were less likely to have ADs signed by either patients or family caregivers than those with cancer, with the lowest likelihood observed in patients with cardiovascular diseases. Whenever possible, primary caregivers should be involved in discussing ADs with patients, and the importance of truth telling should be reinforced. Following these principles, each patient's end-of-life care preferences can be respected, thereby promoting quality of care before the patient's death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To compare the effectiveness of two commonly used moist dressings, Aquacel and Aquacel Foam (both ConvaTec Ltd., UK), in managing split-thickness skin graft (STSG) donor site wounds. Method: Patients undergoing STSG harvesting for reconstruction were eligible for this quasi-experimental study. After reconstruction surgery, the Aquacel (A) or Aquacel Foam (AF) dressings were applied on the donor site wound. The STSG donor site was assessed by two trained research nurses daily. Clinical outcomes including pain on dressing removal, use of intravenous analgesics, signs and symptoms of wound infection, incidence of exudate leakage and percentage healed were recorded in a standardised form. Cost of the dressing change was retrieved from the hospital billing system. Results: Of 50 patients recruited, 25 received dressing A and 25 received the AF dressing for their STSG donor site wound. The average pain score on dressing removal was significantly lower in the AF dressing group compared with the A dressing group (0.8±0.8 versus 3.1±1.5, respectively (p=0.04)). Regression analysis demonstrated that compared with dressing A, the AF dressing was associated with a lower average pain score (beta: –2.27, standard error: 0.33; p<0.001), lower likelihood of pro re nata (PRN) intravenous analgesic use (odds ratio (OR)=0.21, 95% confidence interval: 0.06–0.71; p=0.01) and lower likelihood of exudate leakage (OR=0.11, p=0.01). The differences in time to wound healing, infection and cost were not statistically significant between the two groups. Conclusion: In this study, the AF dressing demonstrated superior performance in pain response on dressing removal for STSG donor site wounds compared with dressing A. Large-scale randomised controlled trials should be conducted to confirm the findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purposes: Women with diabetes (WD) are more severely impacted by the consequence of suboptimal diabetes control. This study aims to examine the impact of demographic and disease characteristics, baseline self-stigma, role strain, diabetes distress on Hemoglobin A1C (A1C) levels, quality of life (D-QoL) and 6-month A1C levels in younger WD. Methods: This study was a 6-month prospective study. In total, 193 WD aged 20–64 years were selected by convenience sampling from three outpatient clinics in Taiwan. Demographic and disease characteristics, self-stigma, role strain, diabetes distress, A1C levels, and D-QoL were collected at baseline. A1C levels were further collected 6 months later. Structural equation modeling was conducted to test the hypothesized model. Results: The final model supported that higher baseline D-QoL directly associated with lower concurrent A1C levels and indirectly associated with lower 6-month A1C levels through baseline A1C levels. Higher baseline self-stigma, role strain, and diabetes distress directly associated with lower baseline D-QoL, and indirectly associated with higher 6-month A1C levels through D-QoL. Conclusion: Improving self-stigma, role strain, and diabetes distress should be considered as promising strategies to improve D-QoL in young WD. D-QoL plays a mediation role between baseline self-stigma, role strain, diabetes distress and subsequent glycemic control in younger WD. Enhancing baseline D-QoL is fundamental to improve subsequent glycemic control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The proportion of hospital deaths has declined in the past few decades, while the proportions of nursing home deaths have increased. This trend of increasing deaths in long-term care facilities underlines the importance of improving end-of-life care provisions in these settings to meet individual preferences and needs. Under these circumstances, a comprehensive understanding of end-of-life care preferences in local nursing home residents can help healthcare professionals and policymakers develop strategies to increase the advance directive completion rate and quality of care. This study aimed to explore and compare advance directive and end-of-life care preferences of nursing home residents in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Methods: A structured questionnaire was developed by the research team to investigate advance directive and end-of-life care preferences in older Chinese nursing home residents. Nursing home residents with frail or pre-frail status and over the age of 64 were invited to participate in the study, and information on demographics, functional status, advance directive experiences, and end-of-life care expectations was collected through questionnaire interviews. Results: A total of 325 eligible participants from 32 facilities completed the survey, including 238 older residents in Hong Kong and 87 in Taiwan. A significantly lower proportion of the Hong Kong residents had completed an advance directive compared with the Taiwanese (3 vs. 13%, p = 0.001). Among participants who did not have an advance directive, 46% of the Taiwanese participants said they would consider completing one in the future, compared with 20% of the Hong Kong participants (p < 0.001). A total of 79% of the Hong Kong participants and 80% of the Taiwanese participants responded that prolonging life in the given hypothetical dying scenario was "not important" (p = 0.76). Only 14% of participants in Hong Kong and 18% of participants in Taiwan reported prior occurrence of end-of-life care discussions with family members or health professionals (p = 0.37). Conclusions: This paper adds evidence in support of improving end-of-life communication and the advance directive completion rate in nursing homes in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Further research is necessary to explore cross-cultural differences in end-of-life preferences and its applications in predicting decision-making and the quality of end-of-life care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To explore the relationship of exercise timing (exercising close to bedtime, exercising in daylight and maintaining fixed exercise schedule) with sleep quality, fatigue and rest–activity rhythms among lung cancer patients in Taiwan. Methods: Results from 43 lung cancer patients who were assigned and adhered to the exercise intervention in a 12‐week randomised controlled trial were analysed. The MD Anderson Symptom Inventory and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) were administered. Actigraphs were used to assess rest–activity rhythms (in‐bed less than out‐of‐bed dichotomy index, I < O) and objective sleep parameters, including total sleep time (TST) and sleep onset latency (SOL). Results: Patients who exercised >4 hr before bedtime had significant improvement in fatigue (p <.0001), sleep quality (p =.012 for PSQI; p =.037 for TST; p =.017 for SOL) and rest–activity rhythms (p =.048 for I < O). Furthermore, patients who exercised with daylight exposure had a significant improvement in fatigue (p =.037) and sleep quality (p =.039 for PSQI). Conclusions: Exercising >4 hr before bedtime with daylight exposure is associated with improvement in rest–activity rhythms, sleep quality and fatigue in lung cancer patients. The causal relationship requires further investigation with experimental design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the second leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide. Sleep problems are common in HCC patients and may be attributable to disturbances in the circadian rhythm. Research into the role of circadian rhythms in sleep quality among HCC patients is lacking, however. This study investigated the relationship between the diurnal cortisol profile and sleep quality among HCC patients. We aimed to identify alterations in the diurnal cortisol profile in patients with HCC compared to healthy controls and investigate whether they were associated with poor sleep quality among HCC patients. Methods: Participants comprised 75 HCC patients and 33 healthy individuals. The Taiwanese version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI-T) was administered to assess sleep quality. Saliva samples were collected on 3 consecutive days at five time points daily to measure diurnal cortisol levels. Results: In the HCC group, 89.3% of individuals were poor sleepers (PSQI-T > 5), whereas among healthy individuals, 30.3% were poor sleepers. While the healthy participants' diurnal cortisol profile followed a typical pattern that peaked 30 min after waking and declined gradually throughout the day, the cortisol level in the HCC patients rebounded at bedtime. Higher cortisol levels were marginally correlated with poor sleep quality (OR = 1.00007, p <.05). Conclusions: Our study suggests a potential association between disturbed circadian rhythm and poor sleep quality in HCC patients. Further investigation of the causal relationship between sleep and circadian rhythm is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To determine the association of palliative care for progressive neurologic diseases with patient- and caregiver-centered outcomes. Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental studies, including pilot studies. Adults with progressive neurologic diseases (dementia, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, motor neuron disease, multiple system atrophy, and progressive supranuclear palsy) and their caregivers. MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL PLUS, Cochrane CENTRAL, and PubMed were searched from inception to September 2021. Two reviewers independently screened studies, extracted data, and assessed risk of bias using the Cochrane risk of bias tools. Narrative synthesis was conducted. Patient quality of life (QoL), symptom burden, caregiver burden, and satisfaction with care were meta-analyzed using a random-effects model. Fifteen trials provided data on 3431 patients (mean age, 73.9 years). Compared with usual care, palliative care was statistically significantly associated with lower symptom burden [standardized mean difference (SMD), −0.34 (95% Cl, −0.59 to −0.09)] and higher caregiver satisfaction [SMD, 0.41 (95% Cl, 0.12 to 0.71)] and patient satisfaction [SMD, 0.43 (95% Cl, −0.01 to 0.87)]. However, the associations were not significant after excluding studies with high risk of bias. Insignificant associations of palliative care with caregiver burden [SMD, −0.09 (95% Cl, −0.21 to 0.03)] and patient QoL [SMD, 0.19 (95% Cl, −0.07 to 0.44)] were observed. Palliative care is likely to improve symptom burden and satisfaction with care among patients with progressive neurologic diseases and their caregivers, while its effects on QoL and caregiver burden remains inconclusive. Specific intervention components including interdisciplinary team, palliative care physicians, home visits, and spiritual care appeared to be associated with increased effects on improving palliative outcomes. More rigorous designed studies are warranted to examine the effects of neuropalliative care, effective intervention components, optimal timing, and symptom triggers of palliative care referrals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: Sleep disturbance remains a common symptom among cancer patients. Assessment of sleep disturbance in cancer patients is hindered by infrequent use of standardized tools for sleep management. Objectives: The purposes of this study were to validate the Taiwanese version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI-T) and to determine detection cut-off points in cancer patients. Design: A cross-sectional and descriptive correlational design. Participants: A sample of 205 Taiwanese patients with various cancer diagnoses. Methods: The survey included the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index-Taiwanese version, the MD Anderson Symptom Inventory-Taiwanese version, the Brief Fatigue Inventory-Taiwanese version, the seven-day sleep log, and Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition. Results: The internal consistency Cronbach''s alpha for the PSQI was 0.79. Test–retest reliability was 0.91 for the global score over a 20- to 28-day interval in a sample of 16 patients. Construct validity was established by a significant relationship of the PSQI-T global score to the total symptom severity score and the fatigue severity score. Convergent validity was examined by correlating the PSQI-T scores and scores of the DSM-IV and scores on the seven-day sleep log. Known-group validity was established by comparing PSQI-T scores for patients having low fatigue levels and those having high fatigue levels. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to determine the detection cut-off points. Conclusions: We found that a PSQI-T global score of 8 generates the best sensitivity and specificity for measuring sleep disturbance in cancer patients. The PSQI-T is a reliable, valid, and sensitive instrument for measuring sleep quality among Taiwanese cancer patients. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Support care is rarely assessed and offered to people with long-term neurologic conditions, particularly Parkinson's disease. This study aimed to assess the symptom burden and unmet support care needs in people with mild to severe Parkinson's disease. Cross-sectional study. Patients with Parkinson's disease were recruited from neurologic outpatient clinics from 3 East and Southeast Asian regions, including Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Thailand. A standardized set of questionnaires assessing unmet care needs [Palliative care Outcome Scale (POS)], disease-specific symptom burden (POS–Symptoms–Parkinson's Disease), generic health-related quality of life (HRQOL) (EQ-5D-3L), and sociodemographic and clinical background. Completed questionnaires (n = 186) were collected from 64 Hong Kong Chinese, 64 Taiwanese, and 58 Thai patients. Their mean age was 67.23 ± 8.07, 54% were female, and 80% had mild-to-moderate disease. Their mean POS score was 10.48 ± 6.38, indicating moderate unmet support needs. Two-thirds of the participants rated constipation, fatigue, leg problem, and daytime somnolence as the most prevalent and burdensome symptoms. Patients from Hong Kong and Taiwan prioritized psychosocial and spiritual support, whereas Thai patients prioritized physical needs and emotional concerns. Multivariate adjustment for demographics and clinical characteristics showed that high psychological, spiritual, and practical burdens are associated with young age, male gender, and advanced disease stages. Patients experience significant symptom burden and moderate unmet support needs at the early to middle stage of Parkinson's disease. Routine assessment of changes in symptom burden should start early. The timely referral of support care services should provide appropriate psychospiritual and practical support in addition to motor training. Planning for support care services should consider cultural and health service contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Stroke is the second leading cause of death and the primary cause of disability worldwide. It is uncertain what care patients with stroke receive in their end of life and what trends in care are in recent years.Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate the changes in the use of intensive and supportive procedures for Taiwanese patients with stroke in their last month of life during 2000-2010.Methods: Analysis of claims data of 55,930 patients with stroke obtained from the National Health Insurance Research Database was performed to investigate the changes in the use of intensive and supportive procedures for Taiwanese patients with stroke in their last month of life during 2000-2010.Results: Over the whole study period, 25.4% of patients with stroke were admitted to intensive care units in their last month of life. The percentages of patients receiving mechanical ventilation (77.4%-67.9%), cardiopulmonary resuscitation (53.8%-35.8%), and inotropic agents (73.5%-64.3%) decreased over time. The percentages of patients receiving artificial hydration and nutrition (65.9%-73.3%) and sedative or analgesic agents (34.7%-38.6%) increased over time. Patients under 85 years old were more likely to be admitted to intensive care units. Men were more likely to receive mechanical ventilation and cardiopulmonary resuscitation than women.Conclusion: Over time, the use of supportive procedures increased, and the use of intensive procedures decreased in patients with stroke in the last month of life. This study highlights a need for research, guidelines, and training in how to provide palliative care for end-stage patients with stroke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We determined the long-term outcomes of adult intensive care unit (ICU) patients and investigated the predictors of successful discharge for ≥6 months among older adults aged ≥80 years in Taiwan. To identify the predictors of ICU admission in patients aged ≥80 years and the predictors of and optimal cutoff predictive discharge score (PDS) for ICU successful discharge in patients aged ≥80 years. A population-based retrospective cohort study. Medical records of 282,269 individuals aged ≥80 years collected from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database from 2001 to 2013. Demographic and clinical parameters, Charlson's comorbidity index (CCI), hospital type, and post-discharge outcomes of ICU patients aged ≥80 years were obtained from their medical records. Multivariable logistic regression was used to analyze and identify the predictors of successful discharge and treatments received by critically ill patients aged ≥80 years admitted to the ICU. The optimal cutoff PDS for successful discharge in older adults were calculated by Youden Index. Results 65,756 ICU admissions were documented, of which 21% (n = 13,825) were for adults aged ≥80 years. The successful discharge rate among ICU patients aged ≥80 years (57.2%) was significantly lower than that among those aged 18–64 and 65–79 years (81.7% and 71.5%, respectively). Multivariable logistic regression analyses revealed the following predictors of successful discharge for ≥6 months after ICU admission in adults aged ≥80 years: younger age (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 0.95, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.94–0.96), shorter ICU length of stay (adjusted OR = 0.90, 95% CI = 0.88–0.92), lower CCI (adjusted OR = 0.92, 95% CI = 0.90–0.93), and no life-sustaining treatments received (Cardiopulmonary resuscitation: adjusted OR = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.68–0.84; mechanical ventilation: adjusted OR = 0.63, 95% CI = 0.57–0.71; use of inotropic agents: adjusted OR = 0.37, 95% CI = 0.34–0.41). The optimal cutoff PDS in older adults was 6 (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve = 0.73, 95% CI = 0.72–0.74). This is the first population-based study investigating the post-discharge outcomes of ICU patients aged ≥80 years. Advanced age was a predictive factor of unsuccessful discharge from the ICU. Nevertheless, more than half of this vulnerable population survived for at least 6 months after discharge. Therefore, age should not be the sole criterion when considering ICU admission and deciding curative treatments for critically ill older adults. Comprehensive assessment and effective communication with patients and their families are also crucial in clinical decision-making for critically ill older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]