Palliative Care Quiz: Comfort at the End of Life

1. Which medication class is first-line for managing cancer pain in palliative care?

Opioids

NSAIDs only

Benzodiazepines

Anticonvulsants

2. What is the primary goal of palliative care?

Cure the underlying disease

Improve quality of life and reduce suffering

Extend life at all costs

Manage only physical symptoms

3. Which assessment tool is commonly used to evaluate pain intensity in palliative care?

Numeric Rating Scale (NRS)

Glasgow Coma Scale

APACHE score

Apgar score

4. Dyspnea in advanced cancer is best managed initially with:

Oxygen therapy alone

Opioids and anxiolytics

Mechanical ventilation

Diuretics only

5. What is the WHO analgesic ladder's second step?

Strong opioids

Weak opioids with non-opioids

Non-opioids only

Adjuvant medications

6. Neuropathic pain in palliative care is best treated with:

Opioids as monotherapy

Adjuvant agents like gabapentin or pregabalin

NSAIDs exclusively

Corticosteroids alone

7. True or False: Palliative care can only be provided in hospice settings.

True

False

8. Which symptom is most commonly undertreated in palliative care despite causing significant distress?

Pain

Existential or spiritual distress

Fever

Hiccups

9. Constipation in opioid-treated patients is best prevented by:

Reducing opioid dose

Concurrent use of stool softeners and laxatives

Increasing fluids alone

Stopping all medications

10. The primary principle of advance care planning in palliative care is:

Making decisions without patient input

Eliciting patient values and preferences early

Always pursuing aggressive treatment

Avoiding discussion of prognosis

11. Delirium in end-of-life care is commonly caused by:

Normal aging only

Medications, infections, metabolic imbalance, or hypoxia

Psychiatric illness exclusively

Patient refusal to eat

12. True or False: Adequate pain control in palliative care requires avoiding opioids to prevent addiction.

True

False

13. Non-pharmacological interventions for pain in palliative care include:

Distraction, relaxation, and massage

Surgery only

Chemotherapy

Antibiotics

14. The concept of 'total pain' in palliative care encompasses:

Physical pain only

Physical, emotional, social, and spiritual suffering

Pain in all body locations

Pain unresponsive to medication

15. Effective communication with dying patients and families should prioritize:

Honesty balanced with compassion and hope

Avoiding all discussion of death

Providing only positive information

Medical jargon and technical terms