Background: End-of-life decisions, specifically the provision of euthanasia and assisted suicide services, challenge traditional medical and ethical principles. Austria and Germany have decided to liberalize their laws restricting assisted suicide, thus reigniting the debate about a meaningful framework in which the practice should be embedded. Evidence of the relevance of assisted suicide and euthanasia for the general population in Germany and Austria is limited. Objective: The aim of this study is to examine whether the public awareness documented by search activities in the most frequently used search engine, Google, on the topics of palliative care, euthanasia, and advance health care directives changed with the implementation of palliative care services and new governmental regulations concerning end-of-life decisions. Methods: We searched for policies, laws, and regulations promulgated or amended in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland between 2004 and 2020 and extracted data on the search volume for each search term topic from Google Trends as a surrogate of public awareness and interest. Annual averages were analyzed using the Joinpoint Regression Program. Results: Important policy changes yielded significant changes in search trends for the investigated topics. The enactment of laws regulating advance health care directives coincided with a significant drop in the volume of searches for the topic of euthanasia in all 3 countries (Austria: −24.48%, P=.02; Germany: −14.95%, P<.001; Switzerland: −11.75%, P=.049). Interest in palliative care increased with the availability of care services and the implementation of laws and policies to promote palliative care (Austria: 22.69%, P=.01; Germany: 14.39, P<.001; Switzerland: 17.59%, P<.001). The search trends for advance health care directives showed mixed results. While interest remained steady in Austria within the study period, it increased by 3.66% (P<.001) in Switzerland and decreased by 2.85% (P<.001) in Germany. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that legal measures securing patients’ autonomy at the end of life may lower the search activities for topics related to euthanasia and assisted suicide. Palliative care may be a meaningful way to raise awareness of the different options for end-of-life care and to guide patients in their decision-making process regarding the same.

Many cancer patients seek adjunctive therapies to biomedical cancer treatments at some point of their disease trajectory. While acupuncture is increasingly recommended by leading oncological associations, limited evidence exists concerning the evidence-informed practice and adherence to current guidelines of traditional complementary and integrative medicine (TCIM) practitioners treating cancer patients. An international online-survey assessed the demographical data, clinical practice, and sources of information used by TCIM practitioners in Austria, Germany, United States of America, Australia, and New Zealand. In total, 404 respondents completed the survey, of which 254 (62.9%) treated cancer patients. Most practitioners were acupuncturists and herbalists (57.1%), had (16.8 ± 9.9) years of clinical experience and see a median of 2 (1, 4) cancer patients per week. Breast cancer (61.8%) is the most common cancer type seen in TCIM clinics. Adjunctive TCIM treatments are frequently concurrent with the patient's cancer specific treatment (39.9%), which is also reflected by the main goal of a TCIM treatment to alleviate side effects (52.4%). However, only 28.0% of the respondents are in contact with the treating oncologist. According to the respondents, pain is most effectively treated using acupuncture, while herbal medicine is best for cancer-related fatigue. TCIM practitioners mostly use certified courses (33.1%) or online databases (28.3%) but often believe that experts are more reliable to inform their practice (37.0%) than research publications (32.7%). Acupuncturists and herbalists commonly treat cancer patients. Most practitioners use TCIM as an adjunct to biomedicine as supportive care and use it largely in accordance with current oncological guidelines. Huemer M, Graca S, Bitsche S, Hofmann G, Armour M, Pichler M. Mapping the clinical practice of traditional, complementary and integrative medicine in oncology in Western countries: A multinational cross-sectional survey. J Integr Med. 2024; Epub ahead of print.

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a commonly used approach among cancer patients, with a reported prevalence of 14.8 to 73.1% depending on multiple factors. Even though a typical patient-reported reason for using CAM is symptom control, no conclusive evidence could be established for specific symptoms being a predictor for CAM use. Symptom clusters are a novel approach for assessing a multidimensional symptom burden, reflecting the impact of diseases on the patient’s quality of life and considering the tendency of symptoms to occur in groups. A single-center cross-sectional study on cancer patients during oncological or palliative care was conducted to identify socio-demographical and clinical characteristics, including symptom clusters of CAM users and non-users. Symptom clusters were defined using latent profile analysis, and multivariable analyses were performed to assess significant factors influencing CAM use. Of 171 cancer patients in this study, 63.7% used CAM alongside oncological treatment or palliative care. The most common CAM therapies were biological and physical therapies, including homeopathy (30.3%), supplements (27.4%), herbs (26.6%), massage (24.8%), and acupuncture (22.0%). Four distinct symptom clusters were identified, of which the cluster drowsiness-depression-anxiety was associated with a 3.83-fold increased chance of using CAM compared to low-symptomatic cancer patients. Multivariate analysis did not show any additional significant predictors of socio-demographical factors. Using the concept of symptom clusters revealed a significant predictor for CAM use, suggesting to be a more conclusive method for assessing symptom burden in cancer patients. In addition, understanding why and how cancer patients turn to CAM can enhance the quality of multidisciplinary communication about its use.

Acupuncture is a promising treatment for visceral cancer pain, but to date, evidence for immediate effects on neuropathic pain is limited. This report presents a case of immediate pain relief by single-needle acupuncture on opioid-refractory neuropathic breakthrough pain in a 78-year-old female breast cancer patient with cervical bone metastases. Acupuncture was applied at a single point neuroanatomically correlating to the pain affected spinal segment. Immediately after acupuncture, the patient reported a complete pain relief lasting for one day. In the following days, neuropathic breakthrough pain was better manageable with reduced dosages of opioids. Acupuncture is possibly effective in providing immediate and safe pain relief in neuropathic cancer pain through neuromodulating effects on the spinal and central nervous level. Randomized controlled studies with individualized acupuncture point protocols are needed to establish efficacy and safety.

Background: Evidence-informed practice is crucial to perform safe and efficient health interventions. In recent years, the evidence base of acupuncture continuously increased leading to the integration of acupuncture into clinical guidelines by various leading medical associations worldwide. At the same time, recent studies showed that licensed acupuncturists are rarely utilizing scientific research to inform their practice.Methods: This descriptive study using an online survey assessed the role of evidence-informed practice of acupuncturists in Austria, Germany, the United States of America, Australia, and New Zealand and aimed to determine critical factors relevant for promoting research literacy including demographical data, data about the clinical practice patterns, and the role and value of different information sources of traditional, complementary and integrative medicine (TCIM) practitioners.Results: In total, 404 acupuncturists completed the online survey that included questions about demographic characteristics, the role and value of research in clinical practice, and details about the amount and type of continuing professional education. Univariate and multivariate analysis was used to determine significant predictors of the outcome variable “importance of research in clinical practice” (numerical rating scale, 0 to 100). The results showed that the majority of acupuncturists use certified courses as primary source of continuing professional education and value experts’ opinions as the most reliable source of information. Multivariate analysis showed that the importance of research is dependent on the interest in research, an interdisciplinary learning environment, and positive experiences with research including if an acupuncture study ever changed the clinical practice of practitioners.Conclusion: Future educational programs should therefore focus on an interactive format aiming to promote skills to critically assess the value and practical use of research studies to improve the general practice of acupuncture.

BACKGROUND End-of-life decisions, specifically the provision of euthanasia and assisted suicide services, challenge traditional medical and ethical principles. Austria and Germany have decided to liberalize their laws restricting assisted suicide, thus reigniting the debate about a meaningful framework in which the practice should be embedded. Evidence of the relevance of assisted suicide and euthanasia for the general population in Germany and Austria is limited. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is to examine whether the public awareness documented by search activities in the most frequently used search engine, Google, on the topics of palliative care, euthanasia, and advance health care directives changed with the implementation of palliative care services and new governmental regulations concerning end-of-life decisions. METHODS We searched for policies, laws, and regulations promulgated or amended in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland between 2004 and 2020 and extracted data on the search volume for each search term topic from Google Trends as a surrogate of public awareness and interest. Annual averages were analyzed using the Joinpoint Regression Program. RESULTS Important policy changes yielded significant changes in search trends for the investigated topics. The enactment of laws regulating advance health care directives coincided with a significant drop in the volume of searches for the topic of euthanasia in all 3 countries (Austria: −24.48%, P=.02; Germany: −14.95%, P<.001; Switzerland: −11.75%, P=.049). Interest in palliative care increased with the availability of care services and the implementation of laws and policies to promote palliative care (Austria: 22.69%, P=.01; Germany: 14.39, P<.001; Switzerland: 17.59%, P<.001). The search trends for advance health care directives showed mixed results. While interest remained steady in Austria within the study period, it increased by 3.66% (P<.001) in Switzerland and decreased by 2.85% (P<.001) in Germany. CONCLUSIONS Our results demonstrate that legal measures securing patients’ autonomy at the end of life may lower the search activities for topics related to euthanasia and assisted suicide. Palliative care may be a meaningful way to raise awareness of the different options for end-of-life care and to guide patients in their decision-making process regarding the same.