Effects of environmental temperature on mortality in cancer patients in palliative care

Despite advances in cancer treatment, the incurability of the disease is the basis for palliative care.

A sample of 334 oncological patients in palliative care underwent a two-year assessment to determine the effects of environmental temperature on mortality.

The results revealed a positive relationship between environmental temperature and the mortality rates of patients under palliative care, with a higher number of deaths occurring in the warmer months. Thus, a 1ºC increase in temperature correlated with an 8.1% increase in mortality for patients dying in the first week of care, 4.8% for those dying within 15 days, and 3.8% for those dying within 30 days. However, for patients surviving more than 30 days, the effect of temperature decreased, with no significant effects of temperature being observed.

Thus, environmental temperature could be a relevant factor in the mortality and survival rates of the palliative care program.