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Cross-sectional study on the current status of pain medical care provided by german specialized outpatient palliative care teams (SAPV)

Conditions
F45.41
Registration Number
DRKS00026132
Lead Sponsor
Klinik für Anästhesie und IntensivmedizinUniversitätsklinikum Gießen und MarburgStandort Marburg
Brief Summary

Background: With the help of specialized outpatient palliative care teams (SAPV), seriously ill and dying patients in Germany can be adequately cared for in their home environment until the end of their lives. However, there are no uniform standards or guidelines for well executed pain therapy right now. Objectives: This approach serves as basic research in the field of public health research. This is intended to represent what methods (use of different professional groups, use of pain medications, alternative medical treatments etc.) the individual SAPV-teams use for pain therapy. From this can be deduced which procedures can be considered particularly effective. Material and methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in May 2021. All German SAPV-teams (n = 307) listed on the homepage of the German Association for Palliative Medicine (DGP) were contacted by mail and invited to participate. A total of 175 teams (57%) responded to the request and were included in the evaluation. A descriptive data analysis was performed. Results: Pain therapy in the German outpatient care of palliative patients is based on several components. All common pain medications are used, but primarily metamizole (99.4%) as a non-opioid analgesic, morphine (98.3%) from the opiate series and pregabalin (96.6%) as a co-analgesic are mainly prescribed. If pain therapy fails, 22.5% of the SAPV-teams perform palliative sedation to archive symptom control on a regular basis. Conclusions: This cross-sectional study is the first of its kind to provide a general overview of the methods used for pain therapy in German outpatient palliative care. In comparison with international studies, the question arises as to whether uniform therapy schemes and a reduction in the medication available in the individual SAPV-teams could lead to an improvement in patient care.

Detailed Description

Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
Complete
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
175
Inclusion Criteria

all spezialised outpatient palliative care provider in Germany can take part at the survey

Exclusion Criteria

/

Study & Design

Study Type
observational
Study Design
Not specified
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Main target criteria:<br>- Which drugs are preferred for pain therapy?<br>- Which application forms are used?<br>- What alternative treatment options are there in outpatient care?
Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Secondary target criteria:<br>- Are there any drugs that are not used?<br>- What problems arise in outpatient care?<br>- Are there any connections between the specialty of the treating physician and the pain therapy used?
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