Outcomes of Specialist Palliative Care Consultation for Patients with Advanced Cancer in an Oncological Emergency...

Research on palliative care (PC) consultation and its outcomes in the emergency department (ED) within a low-and middle-income country (LMIC) setting is limited. This study aimed to evaluate PC consultation outcomes, symptom burden and management, and referral patterns in patients with advanced cancer referred for specialist PC (SPC) in the ED of an urban tertiary care cancer centre in India.

Data of adult advanced cancer patients referred for SPC services in the ED between August 2017 and June 2019 were retrospectively screened. Patients' sociodemographic features, clinical characteristics, ED visit-related data, and treatment-related data were documented. Multinomial logistic regression, incorporating significant univariate factors, was performed to analyse the independent predictive factors of consultation outcomes in the ED.

Of the 644 consultations, 366 (56.8%) were discharged home, 166 (25.8%) were admitted to various settings (hospital/respite care/hospice), 74 (11.5%) died in the ED, and 38 (5.9%) were unresponsive upon arrival. Sex, performance status (PS), gastrointestinal and cardiovascular events, pain, cancer progression, and receipt of pharmacological treatment were predictive of consultation outcomes. Male patients and those with poor PS were more likely to be admitted to the ED, whereas patients with poor PS and cancer progression were more likely to die. Discharge rates were higher among females, those with gastrointestinal symptoms and pain, and those receiving pharmacological treatment.

More than 50% of the patients referred for SPC consultations were discharged. In addition, we also identified predictors for each consultation outcome in the LMIC-ED setting. Future research should investigate advanced care planning and survival analyses in comparable ED settings.