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Palliative inpatients in general hospitals: A one day observational study in Belgium

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Desmedt, Marianne [UCL] de La Kethulle, Yolande [UCL] Deveugele, Myriam I. Keirse, Emmanuel A. Paulus, Dominique J. Beguin, Claire [UCL]

Background: Hospital care plays a major role at the end-of-life. But little is known about the overall size and characteristics of the palliative inpatient population. The aim of our study was to analyse these aspects. Methods. We conducted a one-day observational study in 14 randomly selected Belgian hospitals. Patients who met the definition of palliative patients were identified as palliative. Then, information about their socio-demographic characteristics, diagnoses, prognosis, and care plan were recorded and analysed. Results: There were 2639 in-patients on the day of the study; 9.4% of them were identified as "palliative". The mean age of the group was 72 years. The primary diagnosis was cancer in 51% of patients and the estimated life expectancy was shorter than 3 months in 33% of patients and longer than 1 year in 28% of patients. The professional caregivers expected for most of the patients (73%), that the treatment would improve patient comfort rather than prolong life. Antibiotics, transfusions, treatments specific to the pathology, and artificial nutrition were administered in 90%, 78%, 57% and 50% of the patients, respectively, but were generally given with a view to controlling the symptoms. Conclusions: This analysis presents a first national estimate of the palliative inpatient population. Our results confirm that hospitals play a major role at the end-of-life, with one out of ten inpatients identified as a "palliative" patient. These data also demonstrate the complexity of the palliative population and the substantial diversity of care that they can require. © 2011 Desmedt et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Document type Article de périodique (Journal article) – Article de recherche
Access type Accès libre
Publication date 2011
Language Anglais
Journal information "BMC Palliative Care" - Vol. 10 (2011)
Peer reviewed yes
e-issn 1472-684X
Publication status Publié
Affiliations UCL - SSS/IRSS - Institut de recherche santé et société
UCL - (SLuc) Unité de soins continus
UCL - (SLuc) Autre
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Bibliographic reference Desmedt, Marianne ; de La Kethulle, Yolande ; Deveugele, Myriam I. ; Keirse, Emmanuel A. ; Paulus, Dominique J. ; et. al. Palliative inpatients in general hospitals: A one day observational study in Belgium. In: BMC Palliative Care, Vol. 10 (2011)
Permanent URL http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/163666