Locally Advanced Cancer clinical trials

Identification of In-hospital Patients in Need of Palliative Care Using a New Simplified Screening Tool

Every day many patients affected by chronic life-limiting illnesses are admitted into Internal Medicine wards, coming from the Emergency Department. Many studies suggest that providing palliative care to these patients may improve their end-of-life care while reducing costs by minimizing futile treatments and unwanted intensive care unit admissions. Consequently, there is a strong need for acute care hospitals to more vigorously identify patients entering the final phase of their lives as well as their specific care needs. In a previous study the investigators screened for need of palliative care patients affected by progressive chronic diseases by means of a tool, based on the Italian Society of Anesthesia, Analgesia, Resuscitation, and Intensive Care - SIAARTI - position paper reporting criteria for patients with end-stage chronic organ failures, and on the specific clinical indicators elaborated by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) for patients with locally advanced/metastatic cancer. In a further pilot study, the investigators compared the outcomes of PC patients depending on whether the palliative care team evaluated such patients only if requested by the physician staff or routinely, irrespectively of a specific request, finding a significant increase of discharges after the activation of an appropriate PC service or scheduled PC ambulatory visit. In the present study the investigators enroll chronically ill patients admitted to an Internal Medicine Unit from the Emergency Department, to be screened for palliative care need, using the previously cited SIAARTI/NCCN screening tool (Extended Screening Tool - EST), or using a Simplified Screening Tool (SST), derived from the first instrument, which preliminary showed a superimposable efficacy. This latter tool has advantages related to much more shortness and therefore simplicity in the administration to a seriously ill patient and is much less time consuming, allowing the physician to use it routinely. The aim of the study is to verify the accuracy of the SST in identifying chronically ill patients in need of a PC approach, in comparison to the SIAARTI/NCCN tool (EST). If the SST would show good accuracy, an easily manageable tool for the assessment of PC needs in chronically ill patients would be available for the daily routine.