Home-Based Specialized Pediatric Palliative Care: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskriftReviewForskningfagfællebedømt

Context: Although specialized pediatric palliative care (SPPC) teams increasingly provide home-based care, the evidence of its impact has not yet been systematically evaluated. Objectives: To examine the impact of home-based SPPC in children and adolescents with life-limiting conditions, regarding place of death, quality of life and symptom burden. Methods: We searched Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science and Scopus for studies comparing children and adolescents with life-limiting conditions receiving home-based SPPC with children and adolescents not receiving home-based SPPC, or studies reporting before-and-after measurements. We included studies that reported on place of death, quality of life and/or symptoms. Two authors independently screened the articles, extracted data, and assessed quality. Results were synthesized as a systematic narrative synthesis and meta-analysis, using a random-effects model. Results: We included five studies, which reported on 392 children and adolescents. Meta-analysis showed that receiving home-based SPPC was associated with a more than fourfold increased likelihood of home death (risk ratio 4.64, 95% confidence interval 3.06–7.04; 3 studies; n=296). Most studies reported improved quality of life and reduced symptom burden. The included studies were of low to moderate quality with a high risk of bias. Conclusion: This systematic review suggests that home-based SPPC is associated with increased likelihood of home death, and might be associated with improved quality of life and reduced symptom burden. The small number of studies and an overall high risk of bias, however, makes the overall strength of evidence low.

OriginalsprogEngelsk
TidsskriftJournal of Pain and Symptom Management
Vol/bind65
Udgave nummer4
Sider (fra-til)e353-e368
ISSN0885-3924
DOI
StatusUdgivet - 2023

Bibliografisk note

Funding Information:
The authors like to extend their gratitude to Emma Fredskild Høvighoff for assisting with the screening and assessment of the references in the latest rerun of the systematic searches. The review was carried out as a part of NMH's PhD project, which is supported by the Danish Cancer Society [grant number R173-A11326-17-S51 ]; the Health Foundation [grant number 19-B-0045 ]; Axel Muusfeldts Fund [grant number 2019-0137 ]; Dagmar Marshalls Foundation [grant number 500020 ]; and Tømrermester Jørgen Holm og Hustru Elisa f. Hansens Mindelegat [grant number 21110 ]. None of the funders have had any role in the study design; in the collection, analysis or interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the article for publication. The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest related to the content of the manuscript.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023

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