Carrasco José Miguel, García Miriam, Navas Alejandro, Olza Inés, Gómez-Baceiredo Beatriz, Pujol Francesc, Garralda Eduardo, Centeno Carlos
ATLANTES Research Program, Institute for Culture and Society, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain.
Navarra Institute for Health Research (IdiSNA), Pamplona, Spain.
PLoS One. 2017 Oct 2;12(10):e0184806. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0184806. eCollection 2017.
The goal of palliative care (PC) is to improve the quality of life of terminal stage patients and their families. The subject frequently appears in the mass-media and this helps create a socially accepted identity. The aim of this study is to describe and analyse PC related news items appeared in the Spanish written media.
A descriptive cross-sectional study was designed. Considering diffusion, scope and the range in editorial policy criteria, four printed newspapers (PN) were selected, together with four exclusively digital media sources (DM). Through Mynews, a newspaper content depository, and the search tool for each DM website, articles published between 2009 and 2014 which included the terms "palliative care" and "palliative medicine" were sought. A questionnaire was created to characterise each article identified and a descriptive analysis was undertaken.
A total of 627 articles were identified, of which 359 (57%) were published in PN (42% in the printed editions -PE- 16% in their online editions -OE-) and 268 (43%) in DM. In general, they appeared mainly in sections concerning Health (23%), Culture and Society (18%) and General/Home News (15%). In PE, just 2% were found in the Health section and nearly 70% in Culture and Society and General/Home News. Most of the articles were informative in nature and contained socio-political messages (90%). Statements by PC professionals were found in 35% of the articles and by politicians in 32%. The most frequent content was related to facing end of life (74%) and patient quality of life (70%).
The Spanish written media reflects the socio-political interest aroused by PC. Nevertheless, messages circulating about PC do not describe professional practice, or the contribution of the same for patients. Content more in line with the clinical practice might help contribute to the development of this new area of medicine.
姑息治疗（PC）的目标是提高晚期患者及其家属的生活质量。该主题经常出现在大众媒体上，这有助于塑造一个社会认可的身份。本研究的目的是描述和分析西班牙书面媒体上出现的与姑息治疗相关的新闻报道。
设计了一项描述性横断面研究。考虑到传播、范围和编辑政策标准的差异，选择了四份印刷报纸（PN）和四个纯数字媒体来源（DM）。通过报纸内容库Mynews以及每个DM网站的搜索工具，查找2009年至2014年期间发表的包含“姑息治疗”和“姑息医学”的文章。创建了一份问卷来描述每篇识别出的文章，并进行描述性分析。
共识别出627篇文章，其中359篇（57%）发表在PN上（42%发表在印刷版 -PE-，16%发表在网络版 -OE-），268篇（43%）发表在DM上。总体而言，它们主要出现在健康（23%）、文化与社会（18%）以及综合/家庭新闻（15%）板块。在PE中，仅有2%出现在健康板块，近70%出现在文化与社会以及综合/家庭新闻板块。大多数文章具有信息性，包含社会政治信息（90%）。35%的文章中有姑息治疗专业人员的陈述，32%有政治家的陈述。最常见的内容与面对生命末期（74%）和患者生活质量（70%）有关。
西班牙书面媒体反映了姑息治疗所引发的社会政治兴趣。然而，关于姑息治疗传播的信息并未描述专业实践或其对患者的贡献。更符合临床实践的内容可能有助于推动这一医学新领域的发展。
