Palliative care case management in a surgical department for patients with gastrointestinal cancer—a register-based cohort study

Background

The effectiveness of generalist palliative care interventions in hospitals is unknown.

Aim

This study aimed to explore the impact of a palliative care case management intervention for patients with gastrointestinal cancer (PalMaGiC) on hospital admissions, healthcare use, and place of death.

Design

This was a register-based cohort study analyzing data from the Danish Register on Causes of Death, the Danish National Patient Register, and the Danish Palliative Database.

Setting/participants

Deceased patients with gastrointestinal cancer from 2010 to 2020 exposed to PalMaGiC were compared over three periods of time to patients receiving standard care.

Results

A total of 43,969 patients with gastrointestinal cancers were included in the study, of whom 1518 were exposed to PalMaGiC. In the last 30 days of life, exposed patients were significantly more likely to be hospitalized (OR of 1.62 (95% CI 1.26–2.01)), spend more days at the hospital, estimate of 1.21 (95% CI 1.02–1.44), and have a higher number of hospital admissions (RR of 1.13 (95% CI 1.01–1.27)), and were more likely to die at the hospital (OR of 1.94 (95% CI 1.55–2.44)) with an increasing trend over time. No differences were found for hospital healthcare use.

Conclusion

Patients exposed to the PalMaGiC intervention had a greater likelihood of hospitalizations and death at the hospital compared to unexposed patients, despite the opposite intention. Sensitivity analyses show that regional differences may hold some of the explanation for this. Future development of generalist palliative care in hospitals should focus on integrating a home-based approach, community care, and PC physician involvement.