Frequency and perceived competence in providing palliative care to terminally ill patients: a survey of primary care physicians

Frequency and perceived competence in providing palliative care to terminally ill patients: a survey of primary care physicians

Farber NJ; Urban SY; Collier VU; Metzger M; Weiner J; Boyer EG

Journal Of Pain And Symptom Management

2004

Humans; Physician-Patient Relations; Data Collection; Physician's Practice Patterns/statistics & numerical data; United States/epidemiology; Palliative Care/statistics & numerical data; Terminally Ill/statistics & numerical data; Quality Assurance; Professional Competence/statistics & numerical data; Health Care/methods; Primary Health Care/statistics & numerical data; Terminal Care/statistics & numerical data

We surveyed primary care physicians about their involvement and perceived skills in palliative care. A survey instrument asked how frequently internal medicine and family practice physicians performed 10 palliative care items. Subjects rated their skills in each area. A majority of physicians always or frequently performed all 10 palliative care items, but fewer than 50% of respondents adequately attended to the spiritual needs and economic problems of patients. Interest in palliative care was associated with an increased frequency in performing palliative care items (P = 0.036), while training in palliative care was associated with better perceived performance (P = 0.05). Only 36% of respondents had received training in palliative care. Internists and family practitioners provide palliative care to patients, but feel their skills are lacking in certain areas. Training may improve care to patients at the end of life.

2004

Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).

Journal Article

Backlog