title: Pediatric patients receiving palliative care in Canada: results of a multicenter review.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the patients who received care from the 8 dedicated pediatric palliative care programs in Canada in 2002 and to estimate the number of children who may have benefited but did not receive services from these programs.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective review of medical records combined with a survey of each program.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seven pediatric palliative care programs based in tertiary care settings and 1 freestanding children's hospice.
  
  
  METHODS
  The programs cared for 317 children during 2002, of whom 123 died during that year. An additional 32 children died by the end of 2003.
  
  
  METHODS
  Pediatric palliative care program.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Nearly half (48.6%) of the patients were younger than 5 years, and almost half of these were younger than 1 year. Primary diagnoses were disorders of the nervous system (39.1%), malignancies (22.1%), and conditions arising in the perinatal period or congenital anomalies (22.1%). Most of the children (43.9%) died at home, with those centers reporting more comprehensive home care services having the highest percentage of home deaths. From a national perspective, between 5% and 12% of the children who could benefit from palliative care received services from 1 of these programs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pediatric palliative care programs in Canada care for a diverse population of patients with a wide range of age and disease conditions. Only a small percentage of children who die, however, receive services from these dedicated programs.
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Palliative Care, IWK Health Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia. kim.widger@utoronto.ca
authors.forename: Kimberley
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Widger
authors.forename: Dawn
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Davies
authors.forename: Danielle J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Drouin
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Beaune
authors.forename: Lysanne
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Daoust
authors.forename: R Peter
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Farran
authors.forename: Nago
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Humbert
authors.forename: Filomena
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Nalewajek
authors.forename: Marion
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rattray
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rugg
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bishop
mesh_terms: D002170:Canada; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D000013:Congenital Abnormalities / Q000401:mortality; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000401:mortality; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012189:Retrospective Studies