Causes of cancer patients rehospitalization in end-of-life stages covered by MACSA home care facilities

Introduction: Cancer patients suffer from disease complications in the terminal phase of life. Because of the mentioned complications, they are admitted to emergency departments or referred to other parts of hospitals for managing their complaints. Some of the most common causes of the admission and referring processes are; controlling physical symptoms like dyspnea, chest pain, weakness, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, etc . An efficient home care system can control most of these problems at home and reduce unnecessary admissions and rehospitalization. Materials and Methods: Two hundred forty-nine cancer patients who were covered by the MACSA home care department and visited at least once from ۲۱, March ۲۰۱۸ to ۲۲ September ۲۰۱۸ were included in this survey. Ninety-five (۳۸%) out of ۲۴۹ patients were referred to Firoozgar hospital and ۳۹ patients (۱۵%) were admitted. All data were extracted from the checklist and coded to SPSS. Results: All included patients received home care services at least once. The mean age of patients was ۶۴+/- ۱۲.۸, ۱۲۹ (۵۳%) men and ۱۲۰ women. The most common type of cancer was gastrointestinal (۴۷.۹%). Among ۹۵ patients referred by outpatient and inpatient services, ۳۹(۱۵%) patients were admitted. The most common causes of admissions are specialized consultation (۵۵%), physical symptoms, injection (۱۲%), and chemotherapy (۸%). Three common causes of the consultation were consulting with the emergency (۱۲%), cardiology (۱۱%), and nephrology (۱۰%) specialtiesConclusions: This survey demonstrated that an efficient home care system can manage most complaints and reduce frequent referrals and rehospitalization.

کلیدواژه ها:

Rehospitalization ، palliative care ، home care ، end of life