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Outpatient palliative care encounters in stage IV lung cancer care: An institutional review.

128 Background: Palliative Care (PC) is becoming increasingly integrated into standard oncologic care (SC). Previous research suggests that patients receiving PC report better quality of life, and may have prolonged survival. This study evaluates the effect of PC integration in patients diagnosed with stage IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) at a single institution.


METHODS
All patients diagnosed with Stage IV NSCLC between January 2010 and January 2013 were considered for inclusion and retrospective analysis of their care. Charts were reviewed to identify patients who received outpatient PC with a licensed PC physician in addition to SC. There were no guidelines regarding the nature of the PC intervention. Retrospective analyses of multiple factors were assessed, including: receipt of chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy, utilization of emergency and sick visits, frequency and timing of hospice referral, and duration of hospice utilization. Overall survival was also assessed.


RESULTS
136 patients fulfilled study inclusion criteria. 29 patients received PC in addition to SC, and 107 received SC alone. No statistically significant difference was noted between the groups with respect to age, sex, lines of chemotherapy administered, number of emergency department visits, or number of clinic sick visits. Hospice was offered more frequently in the PC group; however, there was no difference in the amount of time spent on hospice, and no difference in overall survival. There was a trend towards longer survival in the PC group (220 days vs. 254 days). Patients seen in a multidisciplinary clinic were significantly more likely to receive a PC evaluation (RR 1.28 CI 1.073-1.52, p < 0.006).


CONCLUSIONS
This retrospective study examines how PC is integrated in actual clinical models. Multidisciplinary clinic patients were more likely to receive PC after controlling for comorbidities. There was no significant difference between PC and SC group outcomes. Although this study is small, it demonstrates common practice patterns, and identifies the need to identify the components of the PC encounter that are important in order to maximize the potential benefits of PC interventions.