August 4, 2020

Symptom Relief Is Possible in Elderly Dying COVID-19 Patients: A National Register Study

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Clinical Characteristics and Health Care Setting

• Strang et al. used the Swedish Register of Palliative Care, which has national coverage, to compare symptoms and symptom control in the last week of life among patients dying of COVID-19 in nursing homes and hospitals (n=390) to registered deaths in similar settings in 2019 (n=46,698). They found breathlessness was more common in COVID-19 patients than the reference population, and in hospitals than in nursing homes. Relief of breathlessness, anxiety, delirium, and death rattles were less successful in COVID-19 patients than the reference population. Complete relief was more common in nursing homes than hospitals for breathlessness, anxiety, and pain.  

Strang et al. (July 2020). Symptom Relief Is Possible in Elderly Dying COVID-19 Patients: A National Register Study. Journal of Palliative Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1089/jpm.2020.0249