Does the Rating of Care Differ According to Symptoms When Palliative Care Is Provided at the End of Life? Insights from SHARE Data Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Palliative care (PC) is a multidimensional approach to end-of-life care aimed at alleviating suffering and enhancing the quality of life for individuals and their families. A key aspect of PC is managing symptoms such as pain, dyspnea, and psychological distress. This study assesses the links between PC reception, those three symptoms, and the ex-post rating of end-of-life care, this before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. It relies on data from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). A person who knew the deceased was interviewed on various aspects of the last year of life of a former respondent (6,641 individuals from nineteen European countries and Israel, who died between 2006 and March 2020, and 2,596 who died during the COVID-19 pandemic). Before COVID-19, receiving PC improved the rating of care; however, the improvement was significant only in case of dyspnea or psychological distress, not when the person had suffered only from pain. During COVID-19, the global beneficial effect of PC became less significant.