title: Palliative care consultation versus palliative care unit: which is associated with shorter terminal hospitalization length of stay among patients with cancer?
abstract: Hospital length of stay (LoS) may be used to assess end-of-life care aggressiveness and health care delivery efficiency. We describe the terminal hospitalization LoS of patients with cancer managed by a hospital-based palliative care (PC) program comprising a palliative care consultation (PCC) service and an inpatient palliative care unit (PCU). A total of 328 in-hospital cancer deaths were divided into 2 groups. The PCU group included patients admitted by the PC team directly to the PCU. The PCC group included patients admitted by other specialties and referred to the PCC team. The LoS of the PCU group was significantly shorter than that of the PCC group (9.9 [±9.4] vs 17.8 [±19.7] days, respectively; P < .001). Direct terminal hospitalization to PCU is not associated with longer LoS among cancer deaths managed by a hospital-based PC service.
authors.affiliation: Palliative Medicine Unit, Kasr Al-Ainy Center of Clinical Oncology & Nuclear Medicine (NEMROCK), Kasr Al-Ainy School of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt alsirafy@kasralainy.edu.eg.
authors.forename: Samy A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Alsirafy
authors.affiliation: Palliative Care Department, King Fahad Specialist Hospital-Dammam, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Ahmad M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Abou-Alia
authors.affiliation: Palliative Care Department, King Fahad Specialist Hospital-Dammam, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Hafez M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Ghanem
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000070659:Patient Comfort; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012529:Saudi Arabia; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: advanced cancer; end-of-life care; length of stay; palliative care consultation; palliative care unit; tertiary care hospital