Palliative care consultation versus palliative care unit: which is associated with shorter terminal hospitalization length of stay among patients with cancer?

Hospital length of stay (LoS) may be used to assess end-of-life care aggressiveness and health care delivery efficiency. We describe the terminal hospitalization LoS of patients with cancer managed by a hospital-based palliative care (PC) program comprising a palliative care consultation (PCC) service and an inpatient palliative care unit (PCU). A total of 328 in-hospital cancer deaths were divided into 2 groups.

Prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus colonization and infection in hospitalized palliative care patients with cancer.

Little is known about the pattern of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) colonization and infection in hospitalized palliative care (PC) patients. We reviewed 854 admissions for 289 patients with advanced cancer managed by a PC service in a tertiary care hospital. The MRSA screening was performed at least once in 228 (79%) patients, and 21 (9%) of them were MRSA positive.

Pattern of referral of noncancer patients to palliative care in the eastern province of saudi arabia.

Aim: The palliative care (PC) needs of patients with noncancer life-threatening illnesses are comparable to that of cancer patients. This report describes the contribution of noncancer patients to the population of PC patients in a tertiary care hospital in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.

Materials And Methods: This is a retrospective review of the "palliative care inpatient database" of 21 months.