Do Caregivers Have an Effect on Extended Hospitalization in Patient-Fallowed Palliative Care Center? A Study from Turkey.

Abstract

Abstract Objective: Since palliative care clinics are clinics that strive to solve the pain caused by the disease as well as other physical and psychological symptoms and social problems as a caregiver burden, the length of stay becomes important in our clinics with high demand from patients. One of the purposes of palliative care centers is to evaluate the patient for discharge, to provide devices that the patient needs at home or in a nursing home, and to provide caregivers with care and device usage training. We aimed to investigate whether the length of stay is caused by the caregivers as well as clinical conditions. Material and Methods: In this study, we retrospectively investigated the days of hospitalization of 915 patients followed in a palliative care center and the factors that prolong hospitalization in patients with extended hospitalization. Results: The average length of stay of the patients was found to be 15.65±11.43 days. Hospitalization longer than 28 days was found to be 97(10.60%) patients. The most common reason for extended hospitalization was the reluctance of caregivers to discuss discharge in 47 (48.45%) patients. The second most frequent discharge was delayed in 25 (25.8%) patients due to clinical instability. 23(23.71%). A significant relationship was detected between length of stay and TPN nutrition. A significant relationship was detected between patients with cancer (P:0.042) and coronary artery disease (P<0.01) on extended stay. Conclusion: With the aging of the world population and the improvement of health care services, the need for palliative care is increasing daily. In order to use resources efficiently, there is a need to optimize the length of stay in palliative care with a multidisciplinary approach. Trial registration This study registered retrospectively.