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- Title
Telephone consultation in palliative care for cancer patients: 5 years of experience in The Netherlands.
- Authors
S. Teunissen; E. Verhagen; M. Brink; B. van der Linden; E. Voest; A. de Graeff; Teunissen, S C C M; Verhagen, E H; Brink, M; van der Linden, B A; Voest, E E; de Graeff, A
- Abstract
<bold>Goals Of Work: </bold>To analyze cancer patient-related consultations of a telephone helpdesk (TH) for palliative care over a period of 5 years in the region of Utrecht, The Netherlands.<bold>Materials and Methods: </bold>A descriptive analysis was performed of consultations over a period of 5 years (2001-2006). The discipline and location of requesting professionals, patient characteristics, reasons for calling, symptoms, palliative care problems and needs for support were registered.<bold>Main Results: </bold>A total of 1,794 consultations were analyzed. There was an increasing number of consultations during the study period. Of the patients, 51% were male and their median age was 65 years (range 0-104). Eighty-four percent were treated at home by their general practitioner. Two thirds of the patients had a life expectancy <4 weeks. Most questions referred to pain (49%), delirium (20%), nausea and vomiting (16%) and dyspnea (12%). The median number of symptoms was 1 (0-6). Of the questions, 54% were related to pharmacological problems, 19% to psychological problems and 21% to the organization of care. Of the requesting professionals, 17% asked for support for themselves. Of the consultations, 14% were related to end-of-life issues: palliative sedation (11%) and euthanasia (3%).<bold>Conclusion: </bold>After more than 5 years, the 24-h telephone consultation service fulfills a need for general practitioners dealing with daily dilemmas in palliative care treatment for cancer patients at home during the last period of their life.
- Subjects
CANCER patients; MEDICAL consultation; PALLIATIVE treatment; GENERAL practitioners
- Publication
Supportive Care in Cancer, 2007, Vol 15, Issue 6, p577
- ISSN
0941-4355
- Publication type
journal article
- DOI
10.1007/s00520-006-0202-y