A research group led by Lecturer Jun Hamano of the University of Tsukuba verified the difference in survival time between patients with advanced cancer who spent their time at home and those who spent their time in a palliative care ward, and analyzed the treatment and care they received at each location. Even taking into account the effects of , it was found that there was almost no difference, although there was a possibility that staying at home would be slightly longer depending on the expected prognostic period.
A cancer patient's "quality of death" is influenced by where they spend their last days.However, the difference in survival due to location and the treatment and care received there was unknown.Therefore, we investigated the difference in survival between advanced cancer patients who received treatment and care at home (home group) and advanced cancer patients who received treatment and care in the palliative care ward (palliative care ward group). , taking into account the treatment and care received.
A total of 2878 patients with advanced cancer were analyzed.Patients were divided into 3 groups whose prognosis was expected to be in units of months, weeks, and days, and survival days were compared between the home group and the palliative care ward group using PiPS-A, an objective prognostic indicator.
As a result, the average survival period was 65 days in the home group and 32 days in the palliative care ward group in the group where the prognosis was expected in months, and 32 days and 22 days in the group where the prognosis was expected in weeks. was longer.However, there was no significant difference between the 10-day and 9-day groups in the group in which the prognosis was expected in units of days.
We cannot conclude that people live longer at home because the study does not take into account how the symptoms before death and how the treatment and care received changed over time and affected survival.However, it can be used to explain to clinicians, patients and families who are worried that spending their final days at home will shorten their lives, saying that it is unlikely.
Paper information:[PLOS ONE] Comparison of survival times of advanced cancer patients with palliative care at home and in hospital
