Validation of a Palliative Prognostic Index to Predict Life Expectancy for Terminally Ill Cancer Patients in a Hospice Consultation Setting in Taiwan

Background: The aim of our study was to assess the practical utility of the palliative prognostic index (PPI) as a prognostic tool used by nurse specialists in a hospice consultation setting in Taiwan. Methods: In total, 623 terminal cancer patients under hospice consultation care from one medical c...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention : APJCP 2012, Vol.13 (6), p.2861-2866
Main Authors: Cheng, Wei-Hong, Kao, Chen-Yi, Hung, Yu-Shin, Su, Po-Jung, Hsieh, Chia-Hsun, Chen, Jen-Shi, Wang, Hung-Ming, Chou, Wen-Chi
Format: Article
Language:Korean
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Background: The aim of our study was to assess the practical utility of the palliative prognostic index (PPI) as a prognostic tool used by nurse specialists in a hospice consultation setting in Taiwan. Methods: In total, 623 terminal cancer patients under hospice consultation care from one medical center in northern Taiwan were enrolled between January 1 and June 30, 2011. PPI was assessed by a nurse specialist at first hospice consultation and patients categorized into groups by prognosis (good, intermediate, poor). Patient survival was analyzed retrospectively to determine significance of between-group differences. Results: By PPI sum score, 37.2% of patients were in the good prognosis group, 18% in the intermediate prognosis group and 44.8% in the poor prognosis group. The death rates were 56%, 81.2% and 89.6% and median survivals were 76, 18 and 7 days, respectively. The hazard ratio was 0.19 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.10-0.24, p
ISSN:1513-7368
2476-762X