Discomfort in dementia patients dying from pneumonia and its relief by antibiotics

Abstract

Dementia patients frequently die after a pneumonia or prolonged intake problems. Maintaining comfort is a goal of palliative care in end-stage dementia. To compare discomfort in dementia patients dying after a pneumonia with patients dying after intake problems, and to assess associations with treatment, we combined 2 Dutch prospective studies. We selected 559 pneumonia patients and 166 patients with intake problems who had no pneumonia. Discomfort was observed with the Discomfort Scale – Dementia of Alzheimer Type (DS-DAT). Linear regression was performed with the dependent DS-DAT levels shortly before death in 314 patients who died within 2 weeks. Compared with discomfort in patients with intake problems, unadjusted and adjusted discomfort in patients with pneumonia was higher both at t 0 and before death. In adjusted analyses, antibiotic treatment (mostly oral) was associated with less discomfort before death (beta −1.1, CI −2.2 – −0.03), while invasive rehydration (received by only 8 patients) was associated with more discomfort (beta 3.5, CI 0.6 − 6.3). Death from pneumonia may cause great suffering in dementia patients. If confirmed in a study with different case mix and treatments, antibiotics may be used to decrease discomfort even when death is imminent.