Patients with terminal illness seem to experience less stress if they have end-of-life discussions with their doctors, according to the results of a study published in the October 8, 2008 issue of the Journal of American Medical Association .

End-of-life discussions were also associated with less aggressive medical interventions and earlier referrals to hospice care.

Talking about death can be difficult thing, especially due to the concern of causing psychological distress to the person who is ill. In order to determine if end-of-life discussion with physicians were associated with fewer, perhaps unnecessary or unwanted, aggressive medical interventions, doctors from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts and their colleagues studied 332 patients with advanced cancer, as well as their caregivers.

The researchers suggest that depression might interfere with a diabetic's ability to stick to many of the aspects of self-care, such as medication compliance, blood sugar monitoring, diet, and exercise, that they need to adhere to in order to control their diabetes. They also emphasize that the results of their study highlight the importance of screening for depression in patients with diabetes in order to improve health outcomes.

From their findings, the researchers concluded that, in light of the adverse outcomes associated with not having end-of-life discussions, terminally ill patients, their doctors, and their caregivers should initiate conversations about their goals and expectations for the medical care that should be provided near the end of life.

Source

JAMA. 2008;300:1665-1673.