phD Student in Doctoral Programme in Clinical Medicine and Public Health, University of Granada, 18012 Granada, Spain.
Alicante Biomedical Research Institute (ISABIAL), 03001 Alicante, Spain.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Feb 25;17(5):1465. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17051465.
The aim of this study was to compare the symptomatology, palliative care outcomes, therapeutic procedures, diagnostic tests, and pharmacological treatments for people with dementia (PWD) and without dementia (PW/OD) admitted to Spanish nursing homes.
This was a cross-sectional study which is part of a long-term prospective follow-up of elderly people performed in nursing homes to measure end-of-life care processes.
107 nursing home patients with advanced or terminal chronic diseases were selected according to the criteria of the Palliative Care Spanish Society.
Two trained nurses from each nursing home were responsible for participant selection and data collection. They must have treated the residents and had a minimum seniority of 6 months in the nursing home.
Sociodemographic data; Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale; Palliative Care Outcome Scale; and prevalence of diagnostic tests, pharmacological treatments, and therapeutic procedures were evaluated.
Pain, fatigue, and nausea were found to be significantly higher in the nondementia group and insomnia, poor appetite, and drowsiness were significantly higher in the dementia group. Patient anxiety, support, feeling that life was worth living, self-worth, and practical matters management were higher in the nondementia group. Regarding drugs, use of corticoids was higher in the nondementia group, while use of anxiolytics was higher in the dementia group. Diagnostic procedures such as urine analysis and X-ray were higher in the dementia group.
Differences in symptom perception, diagnostic tests, and pharmacological procedures were found between patients with and without dementia. Specific diagnostic tools need to be developed for patients with dementia.
本研究旨在比较入住西班牙疗养院的痴呆症患者（PWD）和非痴呆症患者（PW/OD）的症状、姑息治疗结局、治疗程序、诊断测试和药物治疗。
这是一项横断面研究，是对疗养院老年人进行的长期前瞻性随访的一部分，旨在衡量临终关怀过程。
根据姑息治疗西班牙学会的标准，选择了 107 名患有晚期或终末期慢性疾病的疗养院患者。
每个疗养院的两名经过培训的护士负责参与者的选择和数据收集。他们必须治疗过居民，并且在疗养院的工作经验至少为 6 个月。
评估了社会人口统计学数据；爱丁堡症状评估量表；姑息治疗结局量表；以及诊断测试、药物治疗和治疗程序的患病率。
非痴呆组的疼痛、疲劳和恶心明显较高，痴呆组的失眠、食欲不振和嗜睡明显较高。非痴呆组的患者焦虑、支持、觉得生活有价值、自我价值和实际问题管理较高。在药物方面，非痴呆组皮质激素的使用率较高，而痴呆组的镇静剂使用率较高。痴呆组的尿液分析和 X 射线等诊断程序较高。
在症状感知、诊断测试和药物治疗方面，痴呆症患者与非痴呆症患者存在差异。需要为痴呆症患者开发特定的诊断工具。
