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Table 2 Perceptions of palliative care

From: Perceptions of healthcare professionals towards palliative care in internal medicine wards: a cross-sectional survey

 

Physicians

(n = 44)

Nurses

(n = 156)

p-value

How important do you think the role of palliative medicine is in the care of terminally ill patients?* Mean (+/−sd)

4.84 (0.43)

4.72 (0.48)

0.076

How beneficial do you think each patient group will benefit from palliative care?Mean (+/−sd)

Elderly Patients

4.11 (0.84)

4.16 (0.74)

0.910

Patients with Dementia

4.30 (0.79)

3.74 (0.98)

0.001

Patients with Cancer

4.95 (0.21)

4.65 (0.59)

0.001

Patients with Organ Failure

4.80 (0.46)

4.48 (0.66)

0.002

How important do you think each of the following indications are for palliative care referral?* Mean (+/−sd)

Physical symptom control

4.7 (0.55)

4.6 (0.60)

0.160

Psychological/emotional support

4.4 (0.70)

4.5 (0.65)

0.612

Discharge/placement planning

4.0 (0.96)

4.4 (0.71)

0.016

Which of the following do you feel is the biggest barrier in considering/recommending a referral to palliative care for your patient?n(%) selecting

Own uncertainty about what palliative care entails

3 (6.8)

22 (14.6)

 

Difficulty in prognostication / Unpredictable course disease

26 (59.1)

66 (43.7)

 

Patients’ fear of abandonment

5 (11.4)

30 (19.9)

0.037

Medical costs/ Financial concerns

1 (2.3)

17 (11.3)

 

I have no difficulties or concerns

9 (20.5)

16 (10.6)

 
  1. * As measured on the following scale: 1 “not at all important”; 2 “not so important”; 3 “somewhat important”; 4 “important”; 5 “very important”
  2. † As measured on the following scale: 1 “not at all beneficial”; 2 “not so beneficial”; 3 “somewhat beneficial”; 4 “beneficial”; 5 “very beneficial”
  3. All p-values for * and † obtained from Wilcoxon Rank Sums test
  4. All p-values for ‡ obtained from chi square test