title: Mini-Suffering State Examination scale: possible key criterion for 6-month survival and mortality of critically ill dementia patients.
abstract: Six months of survival as a key criterion is extremely important for decision making in enrollment of critically ill patients to palliative settings. This was a prospective cohort study with 6 months of follow-up during a 24-month period performed in the Division of Geriatric Medicine in a tertiary general hospital. One-hundred three consecutively admitted, bedridden patients with end-stage dementia were evaluated. The Mini-Suffering State Examination scale was performed. Interrelations between the Mini-Suffering State Examination score at admission and 6-month survival and mortality were evaluated. A significant difference was proven among survival curves of subgroups of patients according to the mini scores (0-3, 4-6, 7-10). Survival was shorter and mortality higher in patients with a high Mini-Suffering State Examination score, as shown by the Kaplan-Meier method using the log rank (P=.001) and Breslow tests (P=.001). The Mini-Suffering State Examination scale is useful for predicting the last 6 months of survival and mortality of end-stage dementia patients.
authors: Human Suffering and Satisfaction Research Center, El-Ad, Israel. bechorz@yahoo.com
authors: Bechor
authors: B
authors: Zvi Aminoff
mesh_terms: D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001294:Attitude to Health; D016638:Critical Illness; D003704:Dementia / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D010146:Pain / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D010166:Palliative Care; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D015996:Survival Rate