• Paim MirandaDiego LopesDL0000-0002-9107-5600MD. MSc student, Postgraduate Program in Medicine and Health, Professor Edgard Santos University Hospital, Medical School, Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA), Salvador (BA), Brazil., Alini Maria Orathes Ponte Silva, David Pereira Ferreira, Laís Teixeira da Silva, Liliane Lins-Kusterer, Queiroz CrusoéEdvan deE0000-0002-8599-4731MD, PhD. Hospital Universitário Professor Edgard Santos (HUPES), Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA), Salvador (BA), Brazil., Marianna Batista Vieira Lima, and Marco Aurélio Salvino.
• MD. MSc student, Postgraduate Program in Medicine and Health, Professor Edgard Santos University Hospital, Medical School, Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA), Salvador (BA), Brazil.
• Sao Paulo Med J. 2024 Jan 1; 142 (4): e2023225e2023225.

BackgroundThere are several illness-specific cultural and system-based barriers to palliative care (PC) integration and end-of-life (EOL) care in the field of oncohematology.ObjectivesThis study aimed to investigate the variability in the perceptions of PC and EOL care.Design And SettingA cross-sectional study was conducted in the Hematology Division of our University Hospital in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.MethodsTwenty physicians responded to a sociodemographic questionnaire and an adaptation of clinical questionnaires used in previous studies from October to December 2022.ResultsThe median age of the participants was 44 years, 80% of the participants identified as female, and 75% were hematologists. Participants faced a hypothetical scenario involving the treatment of a 65-year-old female with a poor prognosis acute myeloid leukemia refractory to first-line treatment. Sixty percent of the participants chose to follow other chemotherapy regimens, whereas 40% opted for PC. Next, participants considered case salvage for the patient who developed septic shock following chemotherapy and were prompted to choose their most probable conduct, and the conduct they thought would be better for the patient. Even though participants were from the same center, we found a divergence from the most probable conduct among 40% of the participants, which was due to personal convictions, legal aspects, and other physicians' reactions.ConclusionsWe found considerable differences in the perception of PC and EOL care among professionals, despite following the same protocols. The study also demonstrated variations between healthcare professionals' beliefs and practices and persistent historical tendencies to prioritize aggressive interventions.

21 keywords...

hide…