• Cancer Res Treat · Jan 2015

    Patient's Factors at Entering Hospice Affecting Length of Survival in a Hospice Center.

    • Guk Jin Lee, Hye Shin Ahn, Se Eun Go, Ji Hyun Kim, Min Wu Seo, Seung Hun Kang, Yeo Ree Yang, Mi Yeong Lee, Ku Ock Lee, Sang Hoon Chun, and Jong Youl Jin.
    • Division of Hematology Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Bucheon St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, Bucheon, Korea.
    • Cancer Res Treat. 2015 Jan 1; 47 (1): 1-8.

    PurposeIn order to provide effective hospice care, adequate length of survival (LOS) in hospice is necessary. However the reported average LOS is much shorter. Analysis of LOS in hospice has not been reported from Korea. We evaluated the duration of LOS and the factors associated with LOS at our hospice center.Materials And MethodsWe retrospectively examined 446 patients who were admitted to our hospice unit between January 2010 and December 2012. We performed univariate and multivariate analysis for analysis of factors associated with LOS.ResultsThe median LOS was 9.5 days (range, 1 to 186 days). The LOS of 389 patients (86.8%) was< 1 month. At the time of admission to hospice, 112 patients (25.2%) were completely bedridden, 110 patients (24.8%) had mouth care only without intake, and 134 patients (30.1%) had decreased consciousness, from confusion to coma. The median time interval between the day of the last anticancer treatment and the day of hospice admission was 75 days. By analysis of the results of multivariate analysis, decreased intake and laboratory results showing increased total white blood cell (WBC), decreased platelet count, increased serum creatinine, increased aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) level were poor prognostic factors for survival in hospice.ConclusionBefore hospice admission, careful evaluation of the patient's performance, particularly the oral intake, and total WBC, platelet, creatinine, AST, ALT, and LDH level is essential, because these were strong predictors of shorter LOS. In the future, conduct of prospective controlled studies is warranted in order to confirm the relationship between potential prognostic factors and LOS in hospice.

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