Nutrition provided during the final weeks to patients with non-gastrointestinal solid malignancies

Data regarding the delivery of nutrition and nutritional infusions to patients with terminal cancer remain limited; therefore, this real-world analysis investigated differences in nutrition delivery and infusion statuses for patients with terminal-stage cancers.

Patients who had died following hospitalization for more than seven days due to neoplasms between April 2014 and December 2018 were identified using the medical claims database of Japan. Data regarding oral diets, enteral feeding, infusion volumes, and infusion energies were extracted. The maximum observation period was 28 days prior to patient death.

A total of 12,908 patients were included in our analysis. The proportion of patients without dietary or enteral nutrition increased closer to their dates of death. Observations were recorded at 28 (18.9%), 21 (20.9%), 14 (24.6%), 7 (33.0%), and 0 (80.2%) days prior to death. The infusion volumes given to the patients, as well as their energy contents, decreased near death (P-value for the trend <0.001).

Our study revealed the current status of nutritional therapy for patients with terminal cancer in Japan. The number of patients receiving only parenteral nutrition increased near death, while the amount of nutritional intake was low.