We have located links that may give you full text access.
A population-based evaluation of an intervention to improve advanced stage cancer pain management.
Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 2004 October
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of a community-oriented intervention in one part of the Free Town of Bremen, northern Germany (population 541,000) on the prescription prevalence of World Health Organization (WHO) class III opioids for cancer patients in their final year of life. A community-oriented, multimodal intervention included information, teaching, and training modules tailored to physicians, pharmacists, nursing staff, and patients and their relatives, and the public. Prescription prevalences were calculated for the intervention region (Bremen-Nord) and a control region (Bremen-Mitte) before and after the intervention. Specifically, a population-based, controlled, quantitative assessment of opioid prescriptions for patients with cancer during their final year of life was undertaken for two time periods, prior to 1992-1993 and after 1995-1996, respectively. Prescription ascertainment was based on duplicates kept in the pharmacies. Patients comprised two anonymized complete 4-month samples who died in 1993 and 1996, respectively, with cancer as the primary or a contributory cause of death on their death certificates. A total of 1282 prescriptions were abstracted from duplicates in 109 of 119 pharmacies in Bremen-Mitte and all 31 pharmacies in Bremen-Nord (overall pharmacy participation proportion 93%) and individually matched to 856 patients with cancer in their final year of life. In 1993, 16.3% of all terminal cancer patients in Bremen-Mitte and 19.1% in Bremen-Nord had received at least one prescription for a WHO class III opioid. Corresponding numbers after the intervention were 20% and 21%, respectively. The total amount of class III opioids, however, increased 20% in Bremen-Mitte and 210% in Bremen-Nord after the intervention. In 1996, the spectrum of prescribed opioids had changed markedly toward the WHO recommendations. The proportion of prescribing physicians remained constant. These data suggest that a community-oriented intervention in one part of Bremen had a limited impact on cancer pain therapy on the population level. A measurable change of prescription practice seemed to be restricted to the minority of physicians, who had prior experience with prescribing WHO class III opioids.
Full text links
Related Resources
Trending Papers
Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: diagnosis, risk assessment, and treatment.Clinical Research in Cardiology : Official Journal of the German Cardiac Society 2024 April 12
Proximal versus distal diuretics in congestive heart failure.Nephrology, Dialysis, Transplantation 2024 Februrary 30
Efficacy and safety of pharmacotherapy in chronic insomnia: A review of clinical guidelines and case reports.Mental Health Clinician 2023 October
World Health Organization and International Consensus Classification of eosinophilic disorders: 2024 update on diagnosis, risk stratification, and management.American Journal of Hematology 2024 March 30
Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university
For the best experience, use the Read mobile app
All material on this website is protected by copyright, Copyright © 1994-2024 by WebMD LLC.
This website also contains material copyrighted by 3rd parties.
By using this service, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.
Your Privacy Choices
You can now claim free CME credits for this literature searchClaim now
Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university
For the best experience, use the Read mobile app