How many patients in a prolonged disorder of consciousness might need a best interests meeting about starting or continuing gastrostomy feeding?
Abstract
To estimate the number of people in a prolonged disorder of consciousness (PDOC) who may need a formal best interests decision-making process to consider starting and/or continuing life-sustaining treatment each year in the population of a developed country. Identification of studies on people with a PDOC giving information about incidence, and/or prevalence, and/or cause, and/or location of long-term care. Sources included systematic reviews, a new search of MEDLINE (April 2018), and a personal collection of papers. Validating information was sought from existing data on services. There are few epidemiologically sound studies, most having bias and/or missing information. The best estimate of incidence of PDOC due to acute onset disease is 2.6/100,000/year; the best estimate of prevalence is between 2.0 and 5.0/100,000. There is evidence that prevalence in the Netherlands is about 10% of that in other countries. The commonest documented causes are cerebral hypoxia, stroke, traumatic brain injury, and tumours. There is some evidence suggesting that dementia is a common cause, but PDOC due to progressive disorders has not been studied systematically. Most people receive long-term care in nursing homes, but a significant proportio...Continue Reading
References
Related Concepts
Related Feeds
Brain Injury & Trauma
brain injury after impact to the head is due to both immediate mechanical effects and delayed responses of neural tissues.