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This episode features\\xa0Laura Health
(Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK).


COVID-19 has a mortality of between 1% and 2% and is the deadliest pandemic in living memory. The elderly, and those with pre-existing conditions tend to be most vulnerable to severe\\xa0disease and death. Common symptoms experienced at the end of life include breathlessness and agitation/delirium. Care of those dying of COVID-19 is an understudied aspect of the\\xa0pandemic.


This paper is the first review of international studies describing pharmacological symptom management of adult patients dying of COVID-19. Our thorough search found only seven papers that\\xa0documented pharmacological symptom management of this patient cohort, highlighting the lack of research in this area.


A higher proportion of patients required continuous subcutaneous infusions for medication delivery than is typically seen at the end of life. Modest doses of commonly used end of life\\xa0medications were required for symptom control. There was a lack of information about how effectiveness was measured, and whether medications used effectively alleviated symptoms.