Pediatric Palliative Care: A Five-Year Retrospective Chart Review Study.

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Palliative Care
• Complex Pediatric Illnesses
• Childhood Survival Rates

Background:

• Increasing prevalence of serious illnesses in children.
• Limited data on survival and illness complexity in pediatric palliative care.

Purpose of the Study:

• Describe illness types, referral timing, and survival in pediatric palliative care.
• Examine demographic and clinical factors influencing survival.
• Assess pain reduction post-referral.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective chart review of 256 children (ages 2-16) referred to palliative care.
• Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression for survival analysis.
• Paired t-test for pain assessment before and after referral.

Main Results:

• Survival did not differ by gender, age, race, or religion (p≥0.05).
• Survival varied significantly by referring diagnosis (p<0.001), especially for cancer.
• Pain significantly decreased post-referral (p<0.05).

Conclusions:

• Palliative care referral timing appears earlier for most children.
• Congenital and genetic diagnoses represent significant medical complexity.
• Palliative care effectively reduces pain in seriously ill children.