Telemedicine in Cancer Palliative Care: a Legacy of the Pandemic

• Autor(a) principal: Pinto , Cristhiane da Silva
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Outros Autores: Borsatto, Alessandra Zanei, Vaz, Danielle Copello, Sampaio, Simone Garruth dos Santos Machado, Oliveira, Livia Costa de
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por; eng; spa
• Título da fonte: Revista Brasileira de Cancerologia (Online)
• DOI: 10.32635/2176-9745.RBC.2023v69n1.2698
• Texto Completo: https://rbc.inca.gov.br/index.php/revista/article/view/2698
• topic: cuidados paliativos; assistência ambulatorial; telemedicina; cuidados paliativos; atención ambulatoria; telemedicina; palliative care; ambulatory care; telemedicine

Introduction: Telemedicine can be a useful tool for monitoring patients in palliative care, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Objective: To describe the use of telemedicine for outpatients followed up in an Oncological Palliative Care unit in a national reference hospital. Method: A retrospective analysis of medical teleconsultations performed between April 2020 and February 2021 to outpatients followed up at the unit. Demographic and clinical data of patients, telehealth characteristics and medical management were analyzed. A subjective evaluation was carried out with the professionals responsible for the calls. Results: 1,645 medical teleconsultations were carried out to 470 patients with a mean age of 62 (54-73) years, mostly females (n=258; 54.9%) and with Karnofsky Performance Status estimated at 40% or higher (n=423; 90.0%) at the time of the first remote contact. Most of the teleconsultations were carried out (n=928; 56.4%) to monitor the burden of symptoms between in-person consultations. Of these, 612 (relative frequency=65.9%) controlled the symptom in the subsequent telehealth. The most prevalent complaint was pain (n=303; relative frequency=32.7%) followed by flu-like symptoms (n=108; relative frequency=11.6%). Of the clinical conducts planned, the most prevalent (n=921; 56.0%) was only for the person responsible to pick up the medications, the patient did not need to go to the hospital. Conclusion: Telemedicine proved to be useful in monitoring symptoms of patients with advanced cancer and it allowed patients and caregivers to stay in their homes, reducing displacement and, consequently, the risk of contagion by COVID-19.