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Biomedical subjects

D E Meier

Publications and source records attributed to D E Meier.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1998

A national survey of physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia in the United States.

BACKGROUND: Although there have been many studies of physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia in the United States, national data are lacking. METHODS: In 1996, we mailed questionnaires to a stratified probability sample of 3102 physicians in the 10 specialties in which doctors are most likely to receive requests from patients for assistance with suicide or euthanasia. We weighted the results to obtain nationally representative data. RESULTS: We received 1902 completed questionnaires (response rate, 61 percent). Eleven percent of the physicians said that under current legal constraints, there were circumstances in which they would be willing to hasten a patient's death by prescribing medication, and 7 percent said that they would provide a lethal injection; 36 percent and 24 percent, respectively, said that they would do so if it were legal. Since entering practice, 18.3 percent of the physicians (unweighted number, 320) reported having received a request from a patient for assistance with suicide and 11.1 percent (unweighted number, 196) had received a request for a lethal injection. Sixteen percent of the physicians receiving such requests (unweighted number, 42), or 3.3 percent of the entire sample, reported that they had written at least one prescription to be used to hasten death, and 4.7 percent (unweighted number, 59), said that they had administered at least one lethal injection. CONCLUSIONS: A substantial proportion of physicians in the United States report that they receive requests for physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia, and about 7 percent of those who responded to our survey have complied with such requests at least once.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Typhoid intestinal perforations in Nigerian children.

This study was a retrospective analysis of 75 children with perforated typhoid enteritis treated at the Baptist Medical Centre in Ogbomoso, Nigeria over a 4-year period. The mean age was 11.4 years. The usual symptoms were fever and abdominal pain, with a mean duration of 10.5 days. The diagnosis of perforation was usually based on the history and physical examination alone. The time interval from hospital presentation to operation was 11 hours, during which intravenous crystalloid and antibiotics were administered. Among the 75 children, 53 (71%) had a single perforation, and 22 had multiple perforations. Débridement and two-layered closure was performed in 71 (95%) and resection with anastomosis in 4 (5%). Ileus resolution was usually not complete until the eighth postoperative day, and the mean time until the surviving children were afebrile was 10 days. Complications other than death occurred in 7 (9%) children, and there were 15 deaths (20% mortality). All deaths were attributed to overwhelming sepsis, and all but one of the deaths occurred during the first 72 postoperative hours. The only factor statistically significant as a predictor of mortality was the duration of abdominal pain. Improvement in perioperative management including intensive care nursing and more effective antibiotics, although expensive, could result in decreased mortality. A significant decrease in mortality can occur only when the prevention of typhoid fever becomes a higher priority than its treatment.

Child↗
PubMed1998

Antegrade continent enema management of chronic fecal incontinence in children.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Fecal incontinence impedes social and psychological development in children. Conventional bowel management with rectal enemas, medication, and biofeedback frequently will provide intervals free of fecal soiling sufficient for children to be socially continent. METHODS: This report details the improvement achieved by antegrade irrigation of the colon when conventional bowel management programs have failed to provide satisfactory intervals free of fecal soiling. Twenty-three children had conduits performed to administer antegrade continent enemas in the colon from December 1993 to May 1997. RESULTS: Twenty of the children were available for evaluation. One child was lost to follow-up, and two were noncompliant with the irrigation program. Fourteen of the 20 children are out of diapers. Four of the six wearing diapers, do so for urinary, not fecal incontinence. Two patients (10%) still require diapers for fecal incontinence. Parents were pleased with the efficacy of antegrade irrigation and the decrease in family stress with the elimination of fecal soiling. CONCLUSIONS: Ninety percent of the children available for follow-up benefited from antegrade irrigations of the colon. The antegrade irrigations were an improvement over conventional bowel management programs because a predictable interval free of soiling could be established. This allowed families to plan activities and improved the self-esteem of their children.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Barriers to obtaining consent in dementia research: implications for surrogate decision-making.

OBJECTIVE: To identify barriers to informed consent in research involving subjects with advanced dementia. DESIGN: A randomized controlled clinical trial of palliative care approaches, compared with usual care, in subjects with advanced dementia who are hospitalized. SETTING: A large metropolitan teaching hospital. PARTICIPANTS: All patients older than 65 years of age who have advanced dementia and a Functional Assessment Staging score of 6d to 7f and have been admitted to the hospital. MEASUREMENTS: Surrogates for all eligible subjects were approached for consent to enroll their family members in the trial. Reasons for refusal to enroll in the study were recorded and categorized as either informed refusal (i.e., the surrogate understood the research protocol but declined to give consent for participation) or as a barrier to informed consent (i.e., the surrogates could not participate in the informed consent process or there was no functional surrogate). RESULTS: Forty-nine percent of 146 eligible subjects could not be enrolled in the study. Only four surrogates refused consent for their family members. Of the remaining 68 patients, 41 eligible subjects' surrogates could not be engaged in the informed consent process, and 22 subjects did not have a functional surrogate to consent for research. CONCLUSIONS: Absence of functional surrogate decision-makers is a major barrier to research and clinical decision-making for hospitalized patients with advanced dementia.

Aged↗
PubMed1998

Pain and discomfort associated with common hospital procedures and experiences.

To determine whether reliable and valid rankings of pain and discomfort resulting from hospital procedures encountered by advanced dementia patients could be developed from interviews with cognitively intact adults, rankings of pain and discomfort resulting from 16 common procedures were obtained from two samples of hospitalized, nondemented adults using ten- (N = 100) and five- (N = 35) point numeric rating scales (NRS). Reliability was assessed by having 30 additional subjects complete ten-point NRS representing the ten most frequent procedures in a re-arranged order. By repeated measure analysis of variance, the scales discriminated between procedures (F = 35.1, P < 0.001). Subjects could discriminate between pain and discomfort (F = 21.6, P < 0.001). The five-point NRS exhibited better subject discrimination between experiences. Reliability was also acceptable. A five-point NRS produced reliable and valid pain and discomfort rankings for 16 common hospital procedures and experiences. These rankings should prove useful in reducing suffering and can serve as surrogates for quantifying pain and discomfort in dementia patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Improving palliative care.

Although most deaths in the United States occur in hospitals, data suggest that hospitals and physicians are not equipped to handle the medical and psychosocial problems of dying patients. In this article, we review the barriers to achieving a peaceful death, including inadequate medical professional education on palliative care, and public and professional uncertainty about the difference between foregoing life-sustaining treatment and active euthanasia, and health professionals' difficulty recognizing when patients are dying and the associated sense that death is a professional failure. Other barriers include fiscal constraints on the length of stay, the number of nurses available to care for dying patients, legal and regulatory constraints on obtaining opioid prescriptions, and a segregated system of hospice care that requires patients to be separated from familiar health care providers and settings in order to receive palliative care at the end of life. Identifying the opportunities that can improve the delivery of palliative care at the end of life is the first step toward developing corrective approaches. Strategies that enhance these opportunities are proposed.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1997

Clinical decision-making with the woman after menopause.

Women visit physicians more often than men do, but women's medical care frequently remains fragmented and insufficient. The opportunity to establish a primary care relationship often occurs when patients present with an acute complaint. Integral parts of preventive health maintenance for middle-aged women include an evaluation of the risk for osteoporosis, coronary artery disease, depression, and domestic violence; a consideration of hormone replacement therapy; and screening for breast, cervical, and colon cancer. A primary care physician can address all of these issues in a comprehensive manner without specialty referrals.

Alzheimer Disease↗
PubMed1996

Treatment of the dying in the acute care hospital. Advanced dementia and metastatic cancer.

BACKGROUND: Most Americans die in the acute care hospital, where aggressive, life-prolonging interventions are readily performed. Although patients with incurable illness might prefer palliative care, perceived differences in prognosis by physicians may influence the type of care provided. Patients with advanced cancer and advanced dementia represent 2 extremes in the use of hospice services and may also be treated differently in the acute care hospital. We tested this hypothesis and quantitated the use of nonpalliative interventions in hospitalized, incurably ill patients. METHODS: Charts of elderly patients with advanced dementia or metastatic solid tumor malignancy who died during a 13-month period in a tertiary care acute teaching hospital were reviewed. Main outcome measures included the number of patients receiving invasive of noninvasive (but complex) diagnostic tests, invasive nonpalliative treatments, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, systemic antibiotics, and do-not-resuscitate orders. RESULTS: Charts of 164 patients (80 with dementia and 84 with cancer) were reviewed. Overall, 47% received invasive nonpalliative treatments. Controlling for age, sex, length of stay, and insurance status, the groups were equally likely to receive nonpalliative treatments (P = .75), but patients with dementia were more likely to receive new feeding tubes (P = .02). Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was attempted for 24% of each group. Patients with cancer more often received invasive (41% vs 13%; P = .002) and complex noninvasive diagnostic tests (49% vs 23%; P = .02). Overall, 88% received antibiotics, often empirically, but, controlling for neutropenia and invasive tests and treatments, patients with dementia were significantly more likely to receive antibiotics for an identifiable infection (P = .004). CONCLUSIONS: Incurably ill patients often receive nonpalliative interventions at the end of life. Patients with cancer receive more diagnostic tests, but patients with dementia receive more enteral tube feeding. Patients commonly receive systemic antibiotics, often empirically. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is equally applied, but is out of proportion to expected survival.

Advance Directives↗