• Sule Yilmaz, Corita R Grudzen, Danielle D Durham, Caroline McNaughton, Isabelle Marcelin, Beau Abar, David Adler, Aveh Bastani, Christopher W Baugh, Steven L Bernstein, Jason J Bischof, Christopher J Coyne, Daniel J Henning, Matthew F Hudson, Adam Klotz, Gary H Lyman, Troy E Madsen, Daniel J Pallin, Cielito Reyes-Gibby, Juan Felipe Rico, Richard J Ryan, Nathan I Shapiro, Robert Swor, Charles R Thomas, Arvind Venkat, Jason Wilson, YeungSai-Ching JimSJDepartment of Emergency Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA., and Jeffrey M Caterino.
• Division of Supportive Care in Cancer, Department of Surgery, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York, USA.
• J Palliat Med. 2022 Jul 1; 25 (7): 111511211115-1121.

AbstractBackground: Older adults with cancer use the emergency department (ED) for acute concerns. Objectives: Characterize the palliative care needs and clinical outcomes of advanced cancer patients in the ED. Design: A planned secondary data analysis of the Comprehensive Oncologic Emergencies Research Network (CONCERN) data. Settings/Subjects: Cancer patients who presented to the 18 CONCERN affiliated EDs in the United States. Measurements: Survey included demographics, cancer type, functional status, symptom burden, palliative and hospice care enrollment, and advance directive code status. Results: Of the total (674/1075, 62.3%) patients had advanced cancer and most were White (78.6%) and female (50.3%); median age was 64 (interquartile range 54-71) years. A small proportion of them were receiving palliative (6.5% [95% confidence interval; CI 3.0-7.6]; p = 0.005) and hospice (1.3% [95% CI 1.0-3.2]; p = 0.52) care and had a higher 30-day mortality rate (8.3%, [95% CI 6.2-10.4]). Conclusions: Patients with advanced cancer continue to present to the ED despite recommendations for early delivery of palliative care.

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