Is Inpatient Hospice Care Clinically Effective? Using Phase of Illness to Evaluate Care Outcomes for Patients Admitted to a Specialist Palliative Care Unit in Ireland.

In health care, clinical effectiveness involves evaluating the degree to which clinical interventions achieve beneficial patient and caregiver outcomes. To evaluate the clinical effectiveness of care in a specialist palliative care unit (SPCU) in Ireland, including an analysis of the temporal relationship among admission, Phase of Illness and patient and family distress. A consecutive case series with prospectively collected admission data ( = 400). Using a casemix tool (Phase of Illness), pain, other symptoms, psychological and family distress, and performance status were documented on admission and then daily by medical staff. Three hundred forty-two (85%) patients had complete data recorded on day 1. After admission, there were linear correlations between days since admission and progressive improvements in pain (Cramer's  = 0.131,  < 0.001), other symptoms ( = 0.206,  < 0.001), psychological distress ( = 0.101,  < 0.001), and family distress ( = 0.124,  < 0.001). Forty-three percent were in an unstable phase on admission. Nearly two thirds (60.7%) of these unstable patients converted to a stable phase within 48 hours of admission. Over the first 72 hours, 70.7% of unstable patients converted to a stable phase. There was also a significant correlation between phase stabilization and pain and symptom control ( = 0.007). Stable phase over the first 4 days and first 14 days was associated with significantly higher performance status. This study demonstrates the significant clinical effectiveness of SPCU admission across the different aspects of patient and family care.