A Real-World Study.

[Posted 20/May/2025]

AUDIENCE: Hospice & Palliative Nursing

KEY FINDINGS: These findings underscore the need to reevaluate prescription practices for terminal cancer patients. Optimizing medication use can decrease polypharmacy, reduce adverse drug reactions, and increase the quality of life (QOL) for these individuals.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the prescribing patterns of medications for chronic diseases in patients with terminal cancer in South Korea as their life expectancy declined.

DETAILS: This study analyzed data on cancer patients from the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) database in South Korea. It included a total of 89,606 patients who died of cancer in 2021. We evaluated prescriptions for dyslipidemia, hypertension, diabetes, and osteoporosis at 52, 12, 4, and 1 week prior to death. A significant proportion of patients nearing death continued to receive prescriptions for chronic disease medications, despite guidelines suggesting that these medications can be discontinued when life expectancy is limited. For instance, 2.6% of patients were prescribed medications for dyslipidemia just 1 week before death, highlighting a discrepancy between clinical practice and recommended guidelines.

Copyright © Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care. All rights reserved.

Source: Kim, M., Kim, Y., Park, J., et al. Medication Prescriptions for Chronic Diseases in Terminal Cancer Patients in Korea: A Real-World Study. Journal of Hospice & Palliative Nursing. 2025; 28(1): 18-24. Published: April, 2025. DOI: 10.14475/jhpc.2025.28.1.18.

A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Studies

[Posted 14/Jul/2025]

AUDIENCE: Nursing

KEY FINDINGS: This review indicated that NLC was not inferior to other types of care, and even had a better positive impact on disease activity, fatigue, and satisfaction for patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

BACKGROUND: Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic autoimmune disease, which may not respond to insufficient rheumatology care capacity and workforce shortage. NLC is a care delivery model that can help address this shortage and improve disease management. Purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of nurse-led care (NLC) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis on disease activity, physical function, fatigue, satisfaction, pain, and quality of life.

DETAILS: Nine databases were independently searched by two reviewers for eligible studies. Randomised controlled studies evaluating the effects of NLC on disease activity, physical function, fatigue, satisfaction, and other outcomes were included. The cochrane risk of bias tool was used to assess the risk of bias. A total of nine studies involving 1447 participants were included. The pooled results indicated that no significant difference in disease activity was found at 0.5 years of follow-up (SMD: -0.33, 95% CI [-0.70, 0.04]), and a significant difference was seen in favour of NLC at 1 year (SMD: -0.35, 95% CI [-0.48, -0.10]), and 2 years (SMD: -0.29, 95% CI [-0.48, -0.10]). Moreover, no significant difference was found in fatigue and satisfaction at 0.5 years of follow-up, whereas differences in favour of NLC were seen at 1 year. In addition, no significant difference was found in physical function, pain, and quality of life.

Copyright © John Wiley & Sons Ltd. All rights reserved.

Source: Yang, Z., Pei, J., Guo, X., et al. The Effectiveness of Nurse-Led Care in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Studies. Journal of Clinical Nursing. 2025; 34(7): 2548-2563. Published: July, 2025. DOI: 10.1111/jocn.17687.