Association between the need for palliative care and chronic diseases in patients treated in a peruvian hospital

To assess the association between chronic disease (CD) and the need for palliative care (NPC).

An analytical cross-sectional study was carried out in a Peruvian hospital during 2019. Patients hospitalized with CD were included, and pregnant women and those hospitalized in critical units were excluded. The SPICT-ESTM instrument was used to assess the NPC; sociodemographic and clinical characteristics were also evaluated. The strength of association was calculated with Poisson regressions with robust variance to estimate crude prevalence ratios (PR) and adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR) by confounders.

A total of 172 patients were evaluated, the mean age was 61 years, where 54.7% were male and 123 patients had NPC. In the crude model, we found an association with having cerebrovascular disease (PR: 1.23; p=0.028), any type of cancer (PR: 1.38; p<0.001), heart disease (PR: 1.29; p=0.007), nephropathy (PR: 1.42, p<0.001) and Alzheimer's disease (PR: 1.42; p<0.001). The association was maintained for most of the evaluated CDs in the adjusted model, except for heart disease (aPR: 1.11; p=0.320). The association strength was lower for diabetes mellitus (PR: 0.78; p=0.044).

NPC in hospitalized chronically ill patients is high and more frequent in patients with cancer, cerebrovascular disease, renal problems and Alzheimer's disease. Care programs for patients with diabetes mellitus may decrease NPC.