[Home infusion therapy for cancer patients at a near-terminal stage--analysis of cases who died at home].
To improve the quality of life in cancer patients at a near-terminal stage, we assisted patients to stay home using a system for home infusion therapy (HIT) established at Osaka Prefectural Habikino Hospital in 1994. From April in 1995 to April in 1996, 25 patients were treated at home using the HIT system for longer than 7 days. Thirteen out of 25 patients still stayed at home even at a terminal stage and died in their residences. There was no difference either in the mean age or in the HIT duration between 13 patients who died at home and the remaining 12 patients who were readmitted to their hospitals before death. However, 47% of the patients who died at home had been told their diagnoses by doctors and realized their own prognoses, while only 17% of the patients who died in the hospital knew their diagnoses and prognoses. Seventy-seven percent of the patients who died at home were given home oxygen therapy (HOT), against 33% of the patients who died in the hospital. Furthermore, the patients who died at home were given more intensive care than the patients who died in the hospital, because the former had a larger family than the latter. In conclusion, HIT at a near-terminal stage and death at home may be more readily accepted by patients who know their diagnoses and prognoses and have a large family.
Kozaki
Y
Y
Osaka Prefectural Habikino Hospital.
Kuroda
K
K
Takatani
M
M
Hirano
K
K
Onoyama
K
K
Araki
Y
Y
Sumioka
N
N
Kanamori
Y
Y
Okada
R
R
Doi
Y
Y
Nakao
T
T
Ishikura
Y
Y
Hirashima
T
T
Kimura
K
K
Kawase
I
I
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001293:Attitude to Death; D005260:Female; D018718:Home Infusion Therapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000451:nursing / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013727:Terminal Care