Cancer care quality measures: symptoms and end-of-life care
Lorenz K, Lynn K, Dy S
Record ID 32006000734
English
Authors' objectives:
The aim of this report was to systematically identify quality measures and the evidence for them. to support quality assessment and improvement in the palliative care of patients with cancer in the areas of pain, dyspnea, depression, and advance care planning (ACP), and to identify important gaps in related research.
Authors' results and conclusions:
The literature search identified 5,187 titles, of which 4,650 were excluded at abstract review. Of 537 articles, only 25 contained measures: 21 on ACP, 4 on depression, 2 on dyspnea, and 12 on pain. Ten relevant measure sets were identified: ACOVE, QA Tools, Cancer Care Ontario, Cancer Care Nova Scotia, Dana-Farber, Georgia Cancer Coalition, University Health Consortium, NHPCO, VHA, and ASCO. We identified a total of 40 operationalized and 19 nonoperationalized measures. The most measures were available for pain (12) and ACP (21), compared with only 4 for depression and 2 for dyspnea. Few of the measures were published, and few had been specifically tested in a cancer population.
Authors' recommendations:
A large number of measures are available for addressing palliative cancer care, but testing them in relevant populations is urgently needed. No measures or indicators were available to evaluate the quality of supportive pediatric cancer care. Basic research is urgently needed to address measurement in populations with impaired self-report. Funding field testing of highest quality measures should be an urgent patient and family-centered priority to meet the needs of patients with cancer.
Authors' methods:
Systematic review
Details
Project Status:
Completed
URL for project:
http://www.ahrq.gov/downloads/pub/evidence/pdf/eolcanqm/eolcanqm.pdf
Year Published:
2006
English language abstract:
An English language summary is available
Publication Type:
Not Assigned
Country:
United States
MeSH Terms
- Neoplasms
- Palliative Care
- Quality of Health Care
- Terminal Care
Contact
Organisation Name:
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Contact Address:
Center for Outcomes and Evidence Technology Assessment Program, 540 Gaither Road, Rockville, MD 20850, USA. Tel: +1 301 427 1610; Fax: +1 301 427 1639;
Contact Name:
martin.erlichman@ahrq.hhs.gov
Contact Email:
martin.erlichman@ahrq.hhs.gov
Copyright:
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
This is a bibliographic record of a published health technology assessment from a member of INAHTA or other HTA producer. No evaluation of the quality of this assessment has been made for the HTA database.