Comparison between Characteristics and Survival Outcomes of Cancer and Non-Cancer Inpatients Referred to Palliative Care Consultation Services
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Abstract
Objective: To study the differences in patient characteristics, consultation information, and consultation-to-death duration between inpatient cancer and non-cancer patients referred to palliative care consultation services.
Design: A retrospective analytic study
Materials and Methods: This study reviewed inpatient data and palliative care consultation data of all inpatients who received their first palliative care consultation between 1 August 2018 and 31 March 2019.
Results: Among 247 patients (183 in the cancer group and 64 in the non-cancer group), non-cancer patients were significantly older (72.6 ± 16.7 years versus 62.8 ± 15.5 years; p-value < 0.001), had poorer performance status (82.8% versus 68.3%; p-value 0.026), had higher median total hospital length of stay (40 days versus 24 days; p-value 0.001) and had higher median admission-to-consultation time (18 days versus 9 days; p-value 0.001) when compared with the cancer group. According to survival analysis, the difference in consultation-to-death duration among both groups had no statistical significance (p-value 0.188).
Conclusion: The non-cancer group received more delayed palliative care referrals compared with the cancer group, but the consultation-to-death duration of both groups had no significant differences.
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