Chemotherapy and palliative care near end-of life : examining the appropriateness at a Cancer Institute for colorectal cancer patients

Article indépendant

MASSA, Ilaria | NANNI, Oriana | FOCA, Flavia | MALTONI, Marco | DERNI, Stefania | GENTILI, Nicola | FRASSINETI, Giovanni Luca | CASADEI GARDINI, Andrea | VALGIUSTI, Martina | AMADORI, Dino | PRATI, Elena | ALTINI, Mattia | GALLEGATI, Davide | SANSONI, Elisabetta

BACKGROUND: Appropriate cessation of chemotherapy and timely referral of patients to hospice services are crucial for the quality of care near death. We investigated the quality of care in our Cancer Institute in very advanced metastatic colorectal cancer patients treated in real life. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of electronic medical data of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who were candidates for chemotherapy during the study period (1 January 2007-30 June 2014) and died before 31 December 2014. Quality-of-cancer-care indicators were calculated for the overuse of chemotherapy and referral to hospice. Predictive factors of chemotherapy discontinuation and hospice referral in end-of life care were investigated using parametric and nonparametric methods. RESULTS: Of the 365 patients who died before 31 December 2014, 26 (7.1%) received chemotherapy in the last 14 days of life and 36 (9.8%) started a new chemotherapy regimen in the last 30 days of life. Factors associated with the overuse of chemotherapy were being < 70 years of age for both indicators and not having received advanced chemotherapy treatments for the former indicator. The majority of patients (74.7%) had access to hospice services, of whom only a small percentage (7.2%) accessed them very near to death. CONCLUSIONS: According to the criteria used, our Institute provides a good quality of cancer care for dying colorectal cancer patients, measured by the use of chemotherapy and referral to hospice in their last days of life.

https://bmcpalliatcare.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/s12904-018-0339-8

Voir la revue «BMC palliative care, 17»

Autres numéros de la revue «BMC palliative care»

Consulter en ligne

Suggestions

Du même auteur

Chemotherapy and palliative care near end-of ...

Article indépendant | MASSA, Ilaria | BMC palliative care | n°1 | vol.17

BACKGROUND: Appropriate cessation of chemotherapy and timely referral of patients to hospice services are crucial for the quality of care near death. We investigated the quality of care in our Cancer Institute in very advanced met...

The challenge of sustainability in healthcare...

Article | MASSA, Ilaria | Supportive care in cancer

BACKGROUND: Literature data on the overuse and misuse of diagnostic procedures leading to end-of-life aggressiveness are scarce due to the limited amount of estimated economic waste. This study investigated the potential overuse o...

The challenge of sustainability in healthcare...

Article indépendant | MASSA, Ilaria | Supportive care in cancer

BACKGROUND: Literature data on the overuse and misuse of diagnostic procedures leading to end-of-life aggressiveness are scarce due to the limited amount of estimated economic waste. This study investigated the potential overuse o...

De la même série

Translation, cross-cultural adaptation and va...

Article indépendant | XIE, Zhishan | BMC palliative care | n°1 | vol.24

INTRODUCTION: People diagnosed with cancer are the most frequent users of palliative care. However, there are no specific standards for early identifying patients with palliative care needs in mainland China. The Supportive and Pa...

Validation of the advance care planning engag...

Article indépendant | TAN, Gwendoline Wan Hua | BMC palliative care | n°1 | vol.24

BACKGROUND: Singapore has an ageing population. End-of-life care and advance care planning are becoming increasingly important. To assess advance care planning engagement, valid tools are required. The primary objective of the stu...

A relational approach to co-create advance ca...

Article indépendant | PHENWAN, Tharin | BMC palliative care | n°1 | vol.24

BACKGROUND: Discussing Advance Care Planning (ACP) with people living with dementia (PwD) is challenging due to topic sensitivity, fluctuating mental capacity and symptom of forgetfulness. Given communication difficulties, the pre...

Learning from experience : does providing end...

Article indépendant | MEIER, Clément | BMC palliative care | n°1 | vol.24

BACKGROUND: Despite the critical role of health literacy in utilizing palliative care and engaging in advance care planning, limited research exists on the determinants of end-of-life health literacy. This study investigates the a...

A study protocol for individualized prognosti...

Article indépendant | VAN DEN BESSELAAR, Boyd Noël | BMC palliative care | n°1 | vol.24

BACKGROUND: Head and neck squamous cell cancer (HNSCC) has a poor prognosis, with approximately 25-30% of patients transitioning into the palliative phase at some point. The length of this phase is relatively short, with a median ...

Chargement des enrichissements...