PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Susanne JJ Claessen
AU  - Michael A Echteld
AU  - Anneke L Francke
AU  - Lieve Van den Block
AU  - Gé A Donker
AU  - Luc Deliens
TI  - Important treatment aims at the end of life: a nationwide study among GPs
AID  - 10.3399/bjgp12X625184
DP  - 2012 Feb 01
TA  - British Journal of General Practice
PG  - e121--e126
VI  - 62
IP  - 595
4099  - http://bjgp.org/content/62/595/e121.short
4100  - http://bjgp.org/content/62/595/e121.full
SO  - Br J Gen Pract2012 Feb 01; 62
AB  - Background Little is known about treatment aims during the last 3 months of life.Aim To investigate important treatment aims in the last 3 months of patients’ lives in cases of non-sudden death.Design and setting Mortality follow-back study in the Netherlands.Method Data were collected retrospectively in 2009 within the representative Sentinel Network of GPs in the Netherlands. GPs completed a standardised registration form.Results Data for 279 patients were studied. Of these, 55% died of cancer and 45% of another disease. Treatment was aimed at palliation for 73% of the patients in months 2 and 3 before death, and for 95% of the patients in the last week of life. Seven per cent received treatment aimed at cure in the last week of life. In a minority of patients, cure/life prolongation and palliation were simultaneously important treatment aims. In the last week of life and in the 2–4 weeks before death, cure was more frequently reported as an important treatment aim in patients with a non-cancer disease than in patients with cancer. In the 2–4 weeks before death, palliation was an important treatment aim for a larger proportion of patients with cancer than patients with other diseases.Conclusion Registration by GPs show that, in the last weeks and days of life, cure was more frequently reported as an important treatment aim in patients with a non-cancer disease than in patients with cancer. For a small number of patients, palliation and cure/life prolongation were simultaneously important treatment aims.