Abstract
Advanced liver disease is increasing in mortality and morbidity worldwide, as a result
of growing alcohol consumption, obesity, and viral hepatitis infection. Alongside
efforts to reduce these factors, it is clear that we must identify the considerable
palliative care needs of these patients in order to improve quality of life and reduce
symptom burden. Our review focuses on the current state of palliative and end-of-life
care for patients with advanced liver disease, the significant associated symptom
burden in this disease group, identified level of involvement and potential benefits
of specialist palliative care, as well as possible barriers to accessing this care.
We demonstrate that although palliative care involvement varies considerably worldwide,
there is much opportunity for improvement. Further research is needed to determine
new interventions and models of care that may improve access for patients with liver
disease, including an expansion of providers comfortable with generalist palliative
care.
Keywords
palliative - end-of-life care - hepatology - symptom burden
