Cancer patients, emergencies service and provision of palliative care

• Autor(a) principal: Miranda,Bruno
• Data de Publicação: 2016
• Outros Autores: Vidal,Suely Arruda, Mello,Maria Júlia Gonçalves de, Lima,Jurema Telles de Oliveira, Rêgo,Judith Correia, Pantaleão,Milena Cândido, Leão,Viviane Gomes Carneiro, Gusmão Filho,Fernando Antônio Ribeiro de, Costa Júnior,José Iran da
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Revista da Associação Médica Brasileira (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0104-42302016000300207
• topic: neoplasms; palliative care; home care; emergency medical services

SUMMARY Objective: To describe the clinical and sociodemographic profile of cancer patients admitted to the Emergency Center for High Complexity Oncologic Assistance, observing the coverage of palliative and home care. Method: Cross sectional study including adult cancer patients admitted to the emergency service (September-December/2011) with a minimum length of hospital stay of two hours. Student’s t-test and Pearson chi-square test were used to compare the means. Results: 191 patients were enrolled, 47.6% elderly, 64.4% women, 75.4% from the city of Recife and greater area. The symptom prevalent at admission was pain (46.6%). 4.2% of patients were linked to palliative care and 2.1% to home care. The most prevalent cancers: cervix (18.3%), breast (13.6%) and prostate (10.5%); 70.7% were in advanced stages (IV, 47.1%); 39.4% without any cancer therapy. Conclusion: Patients sought the emergency service on account of pain, probably due to the incipient coverage of palliative and home care. These actions should be included to oncologic therapy as soon as possible to minimize the suffering of the patient/family and integrate the skills of oncologists and emergency professionals.