Jack Barbara, Hillier Valerie, Williams Anne, Oldham Jackie
Edge Hill College School of Health Studies, University Hospital Aintree, Liverpool, UK.
Palliat Med. 2003 Sep;17(6):498-502. doi: 10.1191/0269216303pm794oa.
Despite the increase in hospital palliative care teams, there is little research into their impact on symptom control in patients. A nonequivalent control group design, using a quota sample, investigated 100 cancer patients who had been admitted to hospital for symptom control. Fifty patients received hospital palliative care team intervention compared with 50 patients receiving traditional care. Data was collected using the Palliative Care Assessment (PACA) symptom assessment tool on three occasions. Both groups showed a statistically significant improvement in their symptoms. This significance failed to meet the criterion of one point on a four point scale and therefore results have to be interpreted with caution. However the intervention group had a greater improvement in all their symptoms, particularly for the pain and anorexia for which there were no differences between the groups on the initial assessment, there was a statistically greater improvement for the intervention group (P < 0.001). Consecutive patients with cancer admitted to hospital for symptom control during this study improved, but those patients who received specialist palliative care had a significantly greater improvement in their symptoms.
尽管医院姑息治疗团队有所增加，但关于其对患者症状控制影响的研究却很少。采用配额抽样的非等效对照组设计，对100名因症状控制而入院的癌症患者进行了调查。50名患者接受了医院姑息治疗团队的干预，另外50名患者接受传统护理。使用姑息治疗评估（PACA）症状评估工具在三个时间点收集数据。两组患者的症状均有统计学意义上的显著改善。这种显著性未达到四分制量表上一分的标准，因此对结果的解释必须谨慎。然而，干预组在所有症状方面的改善更大，尤其是疼痛和厌食，在初始评估时两组之间没有差异，但干预组有统计学意义上更大的改善（P < 0.001）。在本研究期间因症状控制入院的连续癌症患者病情有所改善，但接受专科姑息治疗的患者症状改善更为显著。
