Priorities for treatment, care and information if faced with serious illness: a comparative population-based survey in seven European countries

on behalf of Project PRISMA; Irene J Higginson; Barbara Gomes; Natalia Calanzani; Wei Gao; Claudia Bausewein; Barbara A Daveson; Luc Deliens; Pedro L Ferreira; Franco Toscani; Marjolein Gysels; Lucas Ceulemans; Steffen T Simon; Joachim Cohen; Richard Harding

doi:10.1177/0269216313488989

Priorities for treatment, care and information if faced with serious illness: a comparative population-based survey in seven European countries

on behalf of Project PRISMA, Irene J Higginson, Barbara Gomes, Natalia Calanzani, Wei Gao, Claudia Bausewein, Barbara A Daveson, Luc Deliens, Pedro L Ferreira, Franco Toscani, Marjolein Gysels, Lucas Ceulemans, Steffen T Simon, Joachim Cohen, Richard Harding

Deanery of Molecular, Genetic and Population Health Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract / Description of output

BACKGROUND: Health-care costs are growing, with little population-based data about people's priorities for end-of-life care, to guide service development and aid discussions.

AIM: We examined variations in people's priorities for treatment, care and information across seven European countries.

DESIGN: Telephone survey of a random sample of households; we asked respondents their priorities if 'faced with a serious illness, like cancer, with limited time to live' and used multivariable logistic regressions to identify associated factors.

SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: Members of the general public aged ≥ 16 years residing in England, Flanders, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.

RESULTS: In total, 9344 individuals were interviewed. Most people chose 'improve quality of life for the time they had left', ranging from 57% (95% confidence interval: 55%-60%, Italy) to 81% (95% confidence interval: 79%-83%, Spain). Only 2% (95% confidence interval: 1%-3%, England) to 6% (95% confidence interval: 4%-7%, Flanders) said extending life was most important, and 15% (95% confidence interval: 13%-17%, Spain) to 40% (95% confidence interval: 37%-43%, Italy) said quality and extension were equally important. Prioritising quality of life was associated with higher education in all countries (odds ratio = 1.3 (Flanders) to 7.9 (Italy)), experience of caregiving or bereavement (England, Germany, Portugal), prioritising pain/symptom control over having a positive attitude and preferring death in a hospice/palliative care unit. Those prioritising extending life had the highest home death preference of all groups. Health status did not affect priorities.

CONCLUSIONS: Across all countries, extending life was prioritised by a minority, regardless of health status. Treatment and care needs to be reoriented with patient education and palliative care becoming mainstream for serious conditions such as cancer.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	101-10
Number of pages	10
Journal	Palliative Medicine
Volume	28
Issue number	2
Early online date	23 May 2013
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/0269216313488989
Publication status	Published - Feb 2014

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10.1177/0269216313488989

Priorities for treatment, care and information if faced with serious illness
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on behalf of Project PRISMA, Higginson, I. J., Gomes, B., Calanzani, N., Gao, W., Bausewein, C., Daveson, B. A., Deliens, L., Ferreira, P. L., Toscani, F., Gysels, M., Ceulemans, L., Simon, S. T., Cohen, J., & Harding, R. (2014). Priorities for treatment, care and information if faced with serious illness: a comparative population-based survey in seven European countries. Palliative Medicine, 28(2), 101-10. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269216313488989

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title = "Priorities for treatment, care and information if faced with serious illness: a comparative population-based survey in seven European countries",

abstract = "BACKGROUND: Health-care costs are growing, with little population-based data about people's priorities for end-of-life care, to guide service development and aid discussions.AIM: We examined variations in people's priorities for treatment, care and information across seven European countries.DESIGN: Telephone survey of a random sample of households; we asked respondents their priorities if 'faced with a serious illness, like cancer, with limited time to live' and used multivariable logistic regressions to identify associated factors.SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: Members of the general public aged ≥ 16 years residing in England, Flanders, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.RESULTS: In total, 9344 individuals were interviewed. Most people chose 'improve quality of life for the time they had left', ranging from 57% (95% confidence interval: 55%-60%, Italy) to 81% (95% confidence interval: 79%-83%, Spain). Only 2% (95% confidence interval: 1%-3%, England) to 6% (95% confidence interval: 4%-7%, Flanders) said extending life was most important, and 15% (95% confidence interval: 13%-17%, Spain) to 40% (95% confidence interval: 37%-43%, Italy) said quality and extension were equally important. Prioritising quality of life was associated with higher education in all countries (odds ratio = 1.3 (Flanders) to 7.9 (Italy)), experience of caregiving or bereavement (England, Germany, Portugal), prioritising pain/symptom control over having a positive attitude and preferring death in a hospice/palliative care unit. Those prioritising extending life had the highest home death preference of all groups. Health status did not affect priorities.CONCLUSIONS: Across all countries, extending life was prioritised by a minority, regardless of health status. Treatment and care needs to be reoriented with patient education and palliative care becoming mainstream for serious conditions such as cancer.",

author = "{on behalf of Project PRISMA} and Higginson, {Irene J} and Barbara Gomes and Natalia Calanzani and Wei Gao and Claudia Bausewein and Daveson, {Barbara A} and Luc Deliens and Ferreira, {Pedro L} and Franco Toscani and Marjolein Gysels and Lucas Ceulemans and Simon, {Steffen T} and Joachim Cohen and Richard Harding",

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doi = "10.1177/0269216313488989",

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on behalf of Project PRISMA, Higginson, IJ, Gomes, B, Calanzani, N, Gao, W, Bausewein, C, Daveson, BA, Deliens, L, Ferreira, PL, Toscani, F, Gysels, M, Ceulemans, L, Simon, ST, Cohen, J & Harding, R 2014, 'Priorities for treatment, care and information if faced with serious illness: a comparative population-based survey in seven European countries', Palliative Medicine, vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 101-10. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269216313488989

TY - JOUR

T1 - Priorities for treatment, care and information if faced with serious illness

T2 - a comparative population-based survey in seven European countries

AU - on behalf of Project PRISMA

AU - Higginson, Irene J

AU - Gomes, Barbara

AU - Calanzani, Natalia

AU - Gao, Wei

AU - Bausewein, Claudia

AU - Daveson, Barbara A

AU - Deliens, Luc

AU - Ferreira, Pedro L

AU - Toscani, Franco

AU - Gysels, Marjolein

AU - Ceulemans, Lucas

AU - Simon, Steffen T

AU - Cohen, Joachim

AU - Harding, Richard

PY - 2014/2

Y1 - 2014/2

N2 - BACKGROUND: Health-care costs are growing, with little population-based data about people's priorities for end-of-life care, to guide service development and aid discussions.AIM: We examined variations in people's priorities for treatment, care and information across seven European countries.DESIGN: Telephone survey of a random sample of households; we asked respondents their priorities if 'faced with a serious illness, like cancer, with limited time to live' and used multivariable logistic regressions to identify associated factors.SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: Members of the general public aged ≥ 16 years residing in England, Flanders, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.RESULTS: In total, 9344 individuals were interviewed. Most people chose 'improve quality of life for the time they had left', ranging from 57% (95% confidence interval: 55%-60%, Italy) to 81% (95% confidence interval: 79%-83%, Spain). Only 2% (95% confidence interval: 1%-3%, England) to 6% (95% confidence interval: 4%-7%, Flanders) said extending life was most important, and 15% (95% confidence interval: 13%-17%, Spain) to 40% (95% confidence interval: 37%-43%, Italy) said quality and extension were equally important. Prioritising quality of life was associated with higher education in all countries (odds ratio = 1.3 (Flanders) to 7.9 (Italy)), experience of caregiving or bereavement (England, Germany, Portugal), prioritising pain/symptom control over having a positive attitude and preferring death in a hospice/palliative care unit. Those prioritising extending life had the highest home death preference of all groups. Health status did not affect priorities.CONCLUSIONS: Across all countries, extending life was prioritised by a minority, regardless of health status. Treatment and care needs to be reoriented with patient education and palliative care becoming mainstream for serious conditions such as cancer.

AB - BACKGROUND: Health-care costs are growing, with little population-based data about people's priorities for end-of-life care, to guide service development and aid discussions.AIM: We examined variations in people's priorities for treatment, care and information across seven European countries.DESIGN: Telephone survey of a random sample of households; we asked respondents their priorities if 'faced with a serious illness, like cancer, with limited time to live' and used multivariable logistic regressions to identify associated factors.SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: Members of the general public aged ≥ 16 years residing in England, Flanders, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.RESULTS: In total, 9344 individuals were interviewed. Most people chose 'improve quality of life for the time they had left', ranging from 57% (95% confidence interval: 55%-60%, Italy) to 81% (95% confidence interval: 79%-83%, Spain). Only 2% (95% confidence interval: 1%-3%, England) to 6% (95% confidence interval: 4%-7%, Flanders) said extending life was most important, and 15% (95% confidence interval: 13%-17%, Spain) to 40% (95% confidence interval: 37%-43%, Italy) said quality and extension were equally important. Prioritising quality of life was associated with higher education in all countries (odds ratio = 1.3 (Flanders) to 7.9 (Italy)), experience of caregiving or bereavement (England, Germany, Portugal), prioritising pain/symptom control over having a positive attitude and preferring death in a hospice/palliative care unit. Those prioritising extending life had the highest home death preference of all groups. Health status did not affect priorities.CONCLUSIONS: Across all countries, extending life was prioritised by a minority, regardless of health status. Treatment and care needs to be reoriented with patient education and palliative care becoming mainstream for serious conditions such as cancer.

U2 - 10.1177/0269216313488989

DO - 10.1177/0269216313488989

M3 - Article

C2 - 23703237

SN - 0269-2163

VL - 28

SP - 101

EP - 110

JO - Palliative Medicine

JF - Palliative Medicine

IS - 2

ER -

Priorities for treatment, care and information if faced with serious illness: a comparative population-based survey in seven European countries

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