Title |
Palliative pharmacological sedation for terminally ill adults
|
---|---|
Published in |
Cochrane database of systematic reviews, January 2015
|
DOI | 10.1002/14651858.cd010206.pub2 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Elaine M Beller, Mieke L van Driel, Leanne McGregor, Shani Truong, Geoffrey Mitchell |
Abstract |
Terminally ill people experience a variety of symptoms in the last hours and days of life, including delirium, agitation, anxiety, terminal restlessness, dyspnoea, pain, vomiting, and psychological and physical distress. In the terminal phase of life, these symptoms may become refractory, and unable to be controlled by supportive and palliative therapies specifically targeted to these symptoms. Palliative sedation therapy is one potential solution to providing relief from these refractory symptoms. Sedation in terminally ill people is intended to provide relief from refractory symptoms that are not controlled by other methods. Sedative drugs such as benzodiazepines are titrated to achieve the desired level of sedation; the level of sedation can be easily maintained and the effect is reversible. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom | 28 | 19% |
United States | 13 | 9% |
Spain | 9 | 6% |
Australia | 3 | 2% |
Serbia | 3 | 2% |
Canada | 3 | 2% |
France | 3 | 2% |
Ireland | 3 | 2% |
Colombia | 2 | 1% |
Other | 14 | 10% |
Unknown | 64 | 44% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Members of the public | 99 | 68% |
Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 32 | 22% |
Scientists | 10 | 7% |
Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 4 | 3% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom | 1 | <1% |
Hong Kong | 1 | <1% |
United States | 1 | <1% |
Brazil | 1 | <1% |
Unknown | 442 | 99% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Master | 67 | 15% |
Student > Bachelor | 48 | 11% |
Researcher | 34 | 8% |
Other | 30 | 7% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 29 | 7% |
Other | 92 | 21% |
Unknown | 146 | 33% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Medicine and Dentistry | 153 | 34% |
Nursing and Health Professions | 59 | 13% |
Psychology | 23 | 5% |
Social Sciences | 15 | 3% |
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 6 | 1% |
Other | 41 | 9% |
Unknown | 149 | 33% |