Sociodemographic characteristics by primary cancer diagnosis of patients dying in a palliative care unit: A retrospective analysis

Background

To identify the resources that could improve the care of patients with advanced disease, the present study describes the sociodemographic characteristics of advanced cancer patients dying in a palliative care unit.

Method

We performed a retrospective study of oncology patients who died in a palliative care unit from January 2006 to December 2009. A descriptive analysis was conducted to compare the clinical and sociodemographic characteristics of advanced cancer patients, using measures of central tendency and frequencies.

Results

Of the total number of oncology patients, 443 died in the palliative care unit. The most frequent primary cancer site was the lung (20.5%), followed by the liver–pancreas (17.2%), and genitourinary apparatus (16.5%). The primary cancer diagnosis was significantly related to gender (χ² = 55.97, p < 0.00). The primary cancer diagnosis in younger patients was respiratory tumor. When gender was considered, men with a cancer diagnosis were significantly younger than women (Z = −2.19, p = 0.028). No significant differences in the length of admission were identified on comparing means according to the primary cancer diagnosis (χ² = 9.77, p = 0.36), gender (Z = −0.3, p = 0.76) or age groups (χ² = 5.29, p = 0.15).

Conclusions

Among patients with advanced cancer who died in the palliative care unit, significant demographic variables were gender and age.