Outcomes and process of palliative care in patients with advanced cancer

Abstract

This retrospective research aimed to assess outcomes and process of palliative care provided by the palliative care team of Chulabhorn Hospital. Ninety-five medical records of patients with advanced cancer who were admitted during January 2014 and June 2015 were reviewed regarding the symptoms severity measured by ESAS and the process of care. The sample characteristics were analyzed by using descriptive statistics. The symptom severity scores between before and after receiving palliative care were compared by using Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test.

            Findings showed that there were significantly decreased in severity of all symptoms including pain, fatigue, nausea, depression, anxiety, drowsiness, loss of appetite, not wellbeing, and dyspnea (p=.000) in patients whose symptoms severity score was over 4. The palliative care process included patient assessment, palliative intervention and reassessment. This results represent effectiveness of palliative care processes included assessments, interventions and reassessments.