TY - JOUR
T1 - National survey on the availability of oncology palliative care services at tertiary general and cancer hospitals in China
AU - Li, Xiaomei
AU - Wang, Xin Shelley
AU - Huang, Haili
AU - Liu, Miao
AU - Wu, Yinan
AU - Qiu, Jiaojiao
AU - Zhang, Boran
AU - Cui, Linhong
AU - Hui, David
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature.
PY - 2023/12
Y1 - 2023/12
N2 - Background: This nationwide survey studied the level of palliative care (PC) access for Chinese patients with cancer among cancer care providers either in tertiary general hospitals or cancer hospitals in China. Methods: Using a probability-proportionate-to-size method, we identified local tertiary general hospitals with oncology departments to match cancer hospitals at the same geographic area. A PC program leader or a designee at each hospital reported available PC services, including staffing, inpatient and outpatient services, education, and research, with most questions adapted from a previous national survey on PC. The primary outcome was availability of a PC service. Results: Most responders reported that some type of PC service (possibly called “comprehensive cancer care,” “pain and symptom management,” or “supportive care”) was available at their institution (84.3% of tertiary general hospitals, 82.8% of cancer hospitals). However, cancer hospitals were significantly more likely than tertiary general hospitals to have a PC department or specialist (34.1% vs. 15.5%, p < 0.001). The most popular services were pain consultation (> 92%), symptom management (> 77%), comprehensive care plans (~ 60%), obtaining advanced directives and do-not-resuscitate orders (~ 45%), referrals to hospice (> 32%), and psychiatric assessment (> 25%). Cancer hospitals were also more likely than tertiary general hospitals to report having inpatient beds for PC (46.3% vs. 30.5%; p = 0.010), outpatient PC clinics (28.0% vs. 16.8%; p = 0.029), educational programs (18.2% vs. 9.0%, p = 0.014), and research programs (17.2% vs. 9.3%, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Cancer hospitals are more likely to offer PC than are tertiary general hospitals in China. Our findings highlight opportunities to further increase the PC capacity in Chinese hospitals.
AB - Background: This nationwide survey studied the level of palliative care (PC) access for Chinese patients with cancer among cancer care providers either in tertiary general hospitals or cancer hospitals in China. Methods: Using a probability-proportionate-to-size method, we identified local tertiary general hospitals with oncology departments to match cancer hospitals at the same geographic area. A PC program leader or a designee at each hospital reported available PC services, including staffing, inpatient and outpatient services, education, and research, with most questions adapted from a previous national survey on PC. The primary outcome was availability of a PC service. Results: Most responders reported that some type of PC service (possibly called “comprehensive cancer care,” “pain and symptom management,” or “supportive care”) was available at their institution (84.3% of tertiary general hospitals, 82.8% of cancer hospitals). However, cancer hospitals were significantly more likely than tertiary general hospitals to have a PC department or specialist (34.1% vs. 15.5%, p < 0.001). The most popular services were pain consultation (> 92%), symptom management (> 77%), comprehensive care plans (~ 60%), obtaining advanced directives and do-not-resuscitate orders (~ 45%), referrals to hospice (> 32%), and psychiatric assessment (> 25%). Cancer hospitals were also more likely than tertiary general hospitals to report having inpatient beds for PC (46.3% vs. 30.5%; p = 0.010), outpatient PC clinics (28.0% vs. 16.8%; p = 0.029), educational programs (18.2% vs. 9.0%, p = 0.014), and research programs (17.2% vs. 9.3%, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Cancer hospitals are more likely to offer PC than are tertiary general hospitals in China. Our findings highlight opportunities to further increase the PC capacity in Chinese hospitals.
KW - Availability
KW - Cancer
KW - China
KW - National survey
KW - Palliative care
KW - Tertiary general hospital
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U2 - 10.1186/s12904-023-01259-5
DO - 10.1186/s12904-023-01259-5
M3 - Article
C2 - 37770965
AN - SCOPUS:85173097559
SN - 1472-684X
VL - 22
JO - BMC Palliative Care
JF - BMC Palliative Care
IS - 1
M1 - 144
ER -