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Palliative Medicine
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research-article

A systematic review of specialised palliative care for terminal patients: which model is better?

L García-Pérez

Canary Islands Foundation for Health and Research (FUNCIS); CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP)

R Linertová

Canary Islands Foundation for Health and Research (FUNCIS)

R Martín-Olivera

Service of Evaluation and Planning, Canary Islands Health Service, Canary Islands

P Serrano-Aguilar

Service of Evaluation and Planning, Canary Islands Health Service, Canary Islands; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP)

MA Benítez-Rosario

Palliative Care Unit, Hospital Nª Sª de la Candelaria, Tenerife, Canary Islands

There is evidence of improved effectiveness of specialised palliative care for terminally ill patients in comparison to conventional care. However, there is uncertainty about which model is better. The objective of this systematic review was to identify studies that compare specialised palliative care models between them assessing their effectiveness or cost-effectiveness. We searched studies published between 2003 and 2006 in several electronic databases and updated the search in MEDLINE up to 2008. Papers published before 2003 were identified by means of previous systematic reviews and manual search. Studies with broad designs comparing two or more specialised palliative care programmes in adults with terminal illness were selected. Six systematic reviews, three studies on effectiveness and one cost study were included. All systematic reviews drew the conclusion that specialised palliative care is more effective than conventional care. The methodological limitations of the original studies and the heterogeneity of programmes did not allow to draw conclusions about whether a specific model of specialised palliative care is more or less effective or cost-effective than other.

Key Words: palliative care • specialised care • systematic review • terminal patient

This version was published on January 1, 2009

Palliative Medicine, Vol. 23, No. 1, 17-22 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0269216308099957
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