Researchers have devised a screening tool that can determine if a patient will die within 30 days of the test.
Magnolia Cardona-Morrell at the University of New South Wales, who led the research, has developed the Criteria for Screening and Triaging to Appropriate alternative care, or CriSTAL, that screens elderly patients to assess if a person will die in 30 days.
CriSTAL takes into account about 29 criteria such as blood pressure, heart rate, frailty, mental impairment, past admission to emergencies and more to assess if it is worth to provide or continue with life-saving procedures or treatments.
Researchers of CriSTAL believe that the screening tool is mainly designed to reduce any unnecessary invasive treatments and allow elderly people to spend the remaining of their lives with their family or loved ones.
Cardona-Morrell reveals that the screening tool also allows doctors to get into a transparent conversation with patients and their families on whether they want to receive any life-saving procedures. She also suggests that many terminally ill patients prefer to die at their home. However, a major chunk of these patients die in acute hospitals.
The research suggests that some of these patients also undergo expensive as well as pointless medical treatments.
"Current acute hospital systems often fail to recognise or cater to the needs of people for whom death is imminent and unavoidable. They are geared for aggressive treatment and emergency resuscitation, not peaceful, harm-free transitions," says Cardona-Morrell.
The study suggests that elderly people who are about to die should be protected from invasive procedures that can increase suffering. The researchers suggest that the screening tool will enable doctors to skip any unnecessary interventions, which may enhance the remaining quality of life of a dying individual.
CriSTAL is easy to administer and a doctor or a nurse can complete the screening before a patient is admitted to a hospital
The screening tool is said to be trialled in some emergency departments across several hospitals in Sydney this year. The implementation of CriSTAL will include training for the medical staff, which will allow them to communicate with a dying patient, caregiver or family members about the limitations of any medical treatment for a patient.
The screening test has already been adopted by many U.S. and Irish hospitals.
