Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
Volume 32, Issue 6 , Pages 532-540 , December 2006

Opioid Use and Survival at the End of Life: A Survey of a Hospice Population

,Accepted 28 August 2006.

References 

  1. Teno JM, Clarridge BR, Casey V, et al. Family perspectives on end-of-life care at the last place of care. JAMA. 2004;291(1):88–93
  2. Pargeon KL, Hailey BJ. Barriers to effective cancer pain management: a review of the literature. J Pain Symptom Manage. 1999;18:358–368
  3. Krakauer EL, Penson RT, Truog RD, et al. Sedation for intractable distress of a dying patient: acute palliative care and the principle of double effect. Oncologist. 2000;5(1):53–62
  4. Kaldjian LC, Jekel JF, Bernene JL, et al. Internists' attitudes towards terminal sedation in end of life care. J Med Ethics. 2004;30(5):499–503
  5. Cavanaugh TA. The ethics of death-hastening or death-causing palliative analgesic administration to the terminally ill. J Pain Symptom Manage. 1996;12:248–254
  6. Sulmasy DP, Pellegrino ED. The rule of double effect: clearing up the double talk. Arch Intern Med. 1999;159:545–550
  7. Quill TE, Dresser R, Brock DW. The rule of double effect–a critique of its role in end-of-life decision making. N Engl J Med. 1997;337:1768–1771
  8. Cantor NL, Thomas GC. Pain relief, acceleration of death, and criminal law. Kennedy Inst Ethics J. 1996;6:107–127
  9. van der Heide A, van der Maas PJ, van der Wal G, Kollee LA, de Leeuw R. Using potentially life-shortening drugs in neonates and infants. Crit Care Med. 2000;28:2595–2599
  10. Quill TE. The ambiguity of clinical intentions. JAMA. 1993;329:1039–1040
  11. Brody H. Causing, intending, and assessing death. J Clin Ethics. 1993;4:112–117
  12. Wilson WC, Smedira NG, Fink C, McDowell JA, Luce JM. Ordering and administration of sedatives and analgesics during the withholding and withdrawal of life support from critically ill patients. JAMA. 1992;267:949–953
  13. Bercovitch M, Adunsky A. Patterns of high-dose morphine use in a home-care hospice service: should we be afraid of it?. Cancer. 2004;101:1473–1477
  14. Bercovitch M, Waller A, Adunsky A. High dose morphine use in the hospice setting. A database survey of patient characteristics and effect on life expectancy. Cancer. 1999;86:871–877
  15. Thorns A, Sykes N. Opioid use in last week of life and implications for end-of-life decision-making. Lancet. 2000;356:398–399
  16. Sykes N, Thorns A. Sedative use in the last week of life and the implications for end-of-life decision making. Arch Intern Med. 2003;163:341–344
  17. Connor SR, Horn SD, Smout RJ, Gassaway J. The National Hospice Outcomes Project (NHOP): development and implementation of a multi-site hospice outcomes study. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2005;29:286–296
  18. American Pain Society . Principles of analgesic use in the treatment of acute pain and cancer pain. 5th ed.. Glenview, IL: American Pain Society; 2003;
  19. Horn SD, Sharkey PD, Buckle JM, et al. The relationship between severity of illness and hospital length of stay and mortality. Med Care. 1991;29:305–317
  20. Averill RF, McGuire TE, Manning BE, et al. A study of the relationship between severity of illness and hospital cost in New Jersey hospitals. Health Serv Res. 1992;27(5):587–617
  21. Morita T, Tsunoda J, Inoue S, et al. Validity of the Palliative Performance Scale from a survival perspective. J Pain Symptom Manage. 1999;18:2–3

 The National Hospice Outcomes Project was supported by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Additional support for statistical analysis was provided by the VistaCare Foundation. Neither funder was involved in the design and conduct of the study; the collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; or the preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript.

PII: S0885-3924(06)00547-1

doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2006.08.003

Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
Volume 32, Issue 6 , Pages 532-540 , December 2006

Article Tools