Telephone consultation in palliative care for cancer patients: 5 years of experience in The Netherlands

To analyze cancer patient-related consultations of a telephone helpdesk (TH) for palliative care over a period of 5 years in the region of Utrecht, The Netherlands. A descriptive analysis was performed of consultations over a period of 5 years (2001-2006). The discipline and location of requesting p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Supportive care in cancer 2007-06, Vol.15 (6), p.577-582
Main Authors: Teunissen, S C C M, Verhagen, E H, Brink, M, van der Linden, B A, Voest, E E, de Graeff, A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Cancer
Child
Child, Preschool
Female
Health Services Needs and Demand - statistics & numerical data
Home Care Services - statistics & numerical data
Hospice care
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Male
Middle Aged
Needs Assessment - statistics & numerical data
Neoplasms - epidemiology
Neoplasms - nursing
Netherlands - epidemiology
Palliative care
Palliative Care - organization & administration
Palliative Care - statistics & numerical data
Patient Satisfaction - statistics & numerical data
Remote Consultation - organization & administration
Remote Consultation - statistics & numerical data
Retrospective Studies
Surveys and Questionnaires
Telephone
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Summary:To analyze cancer patient-related consultations of a telephone helpdesk (TH) for palliative care over a period of 5 years in the region of Utrecht, The Netherlands. A descriptive analysis was performed of consultations over a period of 5 years (2001-2006). The discipline and location of requesting professionals, patient characteristics, reasons for calling, symptoms, palliative care problems and needs for support were registered. A total of 1,794 consultations were analyzed. There was an increasing number of consultations during the study period. Of the patients, 51% were male and their median age was 65 years (range 0-104). Eighty-four percent were treated at home by their general practitioner. Two thirds of the patients had a life expectancy
ISSN:0941-4355
1433-7339
DOI:10.1007/s00520-006-0202-y