2024 World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) - Posters-P4.15C.02 Palliative Care Impact on Time Toxicity Among Patients with Advanced Lung Cancer at the End of Life

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The study investigates the effect of palliative care on "time toxicity," defined as the time patients with advanced lung cancer spend in contact with the healthcare system during their last year of life. This includes outpatient visits, emergency department (ED) visits, inpatient hospitalizations, and institutional stays. Conducted at Kaiser Permanente Northern California, it retrospectively analyzed patients diagnosed between January 2018 and December 2021. Researchers focused on stage 4 lung cancer patients who died within a year of diagnosis.<br /><br />Key findings reveal that while the overall contact days with healthcare providers remained approximately the same for those who received palliative care versus those who did not, the nature of these interactions shifted. Patients who received palliative care had fewer acute inpatient and ED days. Instead, they had more outpatient contact days. Specifically, the adjusted rate ratio (aRR) for total contact days was 0.97, indicating insignificant changes overall. However, the aRR for ED or acute inpatient contact days was significantly lower at 0.67, while outpatient contact days increased with an aRR of 1.15.<br /><br />Patient characteristics highlighted that 944 individuals participated, with a median age of 74, and 49.5% were female. Racial distribution comprised predominantly White (73.3%), followed by Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, and Hispanic. Among these patients, 51.5% received palliative care. Those receiving palliative care were more likely to have received chemotherapy, radiation, and enrolled in hospice care.<br /><br />In conclusion, incorporating palliative care seems to reduce more intensive healthcare resources such as ED visits and hospital stays, in favor of increased outpatient visits, suggesting an improvement in managing time toxicity and potentially enhancing end-of-life care quality for advanced lung cancer patients.

Asset Subtitle

Ali Duffens

Meta Tag

Speaker Ali Duffens

Topic Multidisciplinary Care: Nursing, Allied Health & Palliative Care

Keywords

palliative care

time toxicity

advanced lung cancer

healthcare system

Kaiser Permanente

outpatient visits

emergency department visits

inpatient hospitalizations

stage 4 lung cancer

end-of-life care