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Does gynecologic malignancy predict likelihood of a tertiary palliative care unit hospital admission? A comparison of local, provincial and national death rates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 May 2012

Jana Pilkey ,
Chantale Demers ,
Harvey Chochinov  and
Nithya Venkatesan
Jana Pilkey*
Affiliation:
Department of Family Medicine, Section of Palliative Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Chantale Demers
Affiliation:
Department of Family Medicine, Section of Palliative Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Harvey Chochinov
Affiliation:
Department of Family Medicine, Section of Palliative Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Department of Psychiatry, Section of Palliative Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Manitoba Palliative Care Research Unit, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Nithya Venkatesan
Affiliation:
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Manitoba, Victoria General Hospital Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Jana Pilkey, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, A8024 St.Boniface General Hospital, 409 Tache Ave. Winnipeg, MB, Canada R2H 2A6. E-mail: jpilkey@wrha.mb.ca
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Abstract

Objective:

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the presence of gynecologic malignancies predicts the likelihood of a tertiary palliative care unit hospital admission.

Method:

In this study, patients admitted to a specialized tertiary palliative care unit (TPCU) with gynecologic malignancies were compared to national and provincial death rates to determine if gynecologic malignancy predicts admission, and subsequent death, in a TPCU.

Results:

Eighty-two gynecologic cancer patients were admitted to our TPCU over the 5- year study period. Out of all cancer deaths in the TPCU, death from ovarian cancer was 3.7% compared with 2.4% (p = 0.0068) of all cancer deaths in Manitoba and 2.3% (p = 0.0043) of all cancer deaths in Canada. Cervical cancer accounted for 1.7% of all our patients deaths compared with 0.7% (p = 0.0001) provincially and 0.6% (p = 0.0001) nationally. Uterine cancer deaths were not significantly different from the provincial and national death rates, whereas vulvar and fallopian cancers were too rare to allow for statistical analysis.

Significance of Results:

Gynecologic cancers may be predictive of admission to a palliative care unit.

Keywords

Palliative careGynecologic malignanciesAdmissionDeath rates
Type
Original Articles
Information
Palliative & Supportive Care , Volume 10 , Issue 4 , December 2012 , pp. 249 - 254
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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