Cancer Res Treat.  2015 Jan;47(1):1-8. 10.4143/crt.2013.148.

Patient's Factors at Entering Hospice Affecting Length of Survival in a Hospice Center

• Lee GJ
• Ahn HS
• Go SE
• Kim JH
• Seo MW
• Kang SH
• Yang YR
• Lee MY
• Lee KO
• Chun SH
• Jin JY

• KMID: 2380384
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4143/crt.2013.148

Abstract

PURPOSE
In order to provide effective hospice care, adequate length of survival (LOS) in hospice is necessary. However the reported average LOS is much shorter. Analysis of LOS in hospice has not been reported from Korea. We evaluated the duration of LOS and the factors associated with LOS at our hospice center.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
We retrospectively examined 446 patients who were admitted to our hospice unit between January 2010 and December 2012. We performed univariate and multivariate analysis for analysis of factors associated with LOS.
RESULTS
The median LOS was 9.5 days (range, 1 to 186 days). The LOS of 389 patients (86.8%) was< 1 month. At the time of admission to hospice, 112 patients (25.2%) were completely bedridden, 110 patients (24.8%) had mouth care only without intake, and 134 patients (30.1%) had decreased consciousness, from confusion to coma. The median time interval between the day of the last anticancer treatment and the day of hospice admission was 75 days. By analysis of the results of multivariate analysis, decreased intake and laboratory results showing increased total white blood cell (WBC), decreased platelet count, increased serum creatinine, increased aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) level were poor prognostic factors for survival in hospice.
CONCLUSION
Before hospice admission, careful evaluation of the patient's performance, particularly the oral intake, and total WBC, platelet, creatinine, AST, ALT, and LDH level is essential, because these were strong predictors of shorter LOS. In the future, conduct of prospective controlled studies is warranted in order to confirm the relationship between potential prognostic factors and LOS in hospice.

Keyword

Hospice care; Survival analysis; Prognosis

MeSH Terms

Alanine Transaminase
Aspartate Aminotransferases
Blood Platelets
Coma
Consciousness
Creatinine
Hospice Care
Hospices*
Humans
Korea
L-Lactate Dehydrogenase
Leukocytes
Mouth
Multivariate Analysis
Platelet Count
Prognosis
Retrospective Studies
Survival Analysis
Alanine Transaminase
Aspartate Aminotransferases
Creatinine
L-Lactate Dehydrogenase

Reference

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