Palliative Care Consultation Services on Terminally Ill Cancer Patients and Non-Cancer Patients: Trend Analysis from a 9-Year-Long Observational Study in Taiwan

Ling-Hui Huang, Lian-Shin Lin, Chun-Li Wang, Yu-Chen Chang, Lung-Chun Lee, Chung-Chieh Hu, Pi-Shan Hsu and Wei-Min Chu
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Ling-Hui Huang: Department of Nursing, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung 40705, Taiwan
Lian-Shin Lin: Department of Nursing, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung 40705, Taiwan
Chun-Li Wang: Department of Family Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung 40705, Taiwan
Yu-Chen Chang: Technology Transfer and Incubation Center, National Health Research Institutes, Miaoli 35053, Taiwan
Lung-Chun Lee: Department of Family Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung 40705, Taiwan
Chung-Chieh Hu: Department of Family Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung 40705, Taiwan
Pi-Shan Hsu: Department of Family Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung 40705, Taiwan
Wei-Min Chu: Department of Family Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung 40705, Taiwan

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 18, 1-14

Abstract: Early integration of palliative care for terminally ill cancer and non-cancer patients improves quality of life. However, there are sparse data on results of palliative care consultation services (PCCS) between cancer and non-cancer patients. In this 9-year observational study, data were collected from the Hospice-Palliative Clinical Database (HPCD) of Taichung Veterans General Hospital (TCVGH). Terminally ill cancer and non-cancer patients who received PCCS during 2011 to 2019 were enrolled. Trend analysis was performed to evaluate differences in outcomes of PCCS, including duration of PCCS, the awareness of disease of patients and families before and after PCCS, status of PCCS termination, and DNR declaration before and after PCCS among cancer and non-cancer patients throughout study period. In total, 5223 cancer patients and 536 non-cancer patients received PCCS from 2011 to 2019. The number of people who received PCCS increased stably over the decade, both for cancer and non-cancer patients. The average duration of PCCS for cancer and non-cancer patients was 21.4 days and 18.4 days, respectively. Compared with non-cancer patients, cancer patients had longer duration of PCCS, less DNR declaration (82% vs. 98%, respectively), and more transfers to the palliative care unit (17% vs. 11%, respectively), or for palliative home care (12% vs.8%, respectively). Determinants of late referral to PCCS includes age (OR 0.992, 95% CI 0.987–0.996), DNR declaration after PCCS (OR 1.967, 95% CI 1.574–2.458), patients’ awareness after PCCS (OR 0.754, 95% CI 0.635–0.895), and status of PCCS termination. This 9-year observational study showed that the trend of PCCS among cancer and non-cancer patients had changed over the duration of the study, and early integration of PCCS to all patients is essential for both cancer and non-cancer patients.

Keywords: palliative care consultation service; cancer; non-cancer; trend (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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