Related Experiment Videos
Nutritional support and risk status among cancer patients in palliative home care services
Y Orrevall1, C Tishelman, J Permert
1Department of Clinical Science, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital, 141 86, Stockholm, Sweden. ylva.orrevall@ki.se
Goal Of Work:
The aim of this study was to investigate the nutritional risk status and use of nutritional support among cancer patients enrolled in palliative home care services. Differences in the use of nutritional support in relation to nutritional, social and clinical factors, as well as survival were also investigated.
Patients And Methods:
Structured telephone interviews were conducted with cancer patients enrolled in all 21 palliative home care services in the Stockholm region. An interview guide was designed to investigate topics related to the patient's nutritional situation.
Main Results:
Interviews with 621 patients were analysed. Sixty-eight percent of the patients were scored as at nutritional risk according on a modified version of NRS-2002. Nutritional support was used by 55% of the patients, with oral nutritional supplements most common and 14% using artificial nutrition. Use of nutritional support was related to low BMI and severe weight loss and was more common in patients with shorter survival times.
Conclusions:
These findings demonstrate that nutritional support is used to treat already malnourished patients with shorter survival time, rather than to prevent malnutrition. A more structured approach to nutritional issues for patients in palliative phases, which considers life expectancy and psycho-social aspects of nutritional issues, could help identify potential candidates for nutritional support.
Related Concept Videos
Cancer Survival Analysis
Cancer Prevention
Some...
Cancer Prevention
Some...
Nursing Ethical Principles II
Consider the following scenario, which illustrates how these principles are applied in the care of Mr. John, a fifty-year-old teacher diagnosed with metastatic liver cancer.
Initially, Mr. John's cancer...
Chronic Kidney Disease III: Interprofessional Care
Documentation in Long-Term and Home Healthcare Setting
Long-Term Care Facilities