Yildirim Birdal, Tanriverdi Ozgur
Department of Emergency Medicine, Education and Research Hospital, Mugla Sitki Kocman University, Mugla, Turkey E-mail :
Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2014;15(1):349-53. doi: 10.7314/apjcp.2014.15.1.349.
Although previously studies have reported that most patients with malignancy prefer to die at home, this is not the real situation in clinical practice.
In this study, we aimed to determine the characteristics of Turkish cancer patients admitted to the emergency department (ED) within one month before death.
This descriptive retrospective study focused on questions about how often and why patients with cancer visited the ED before death. A total of 107 individuals with cancer were divided into 2 groups: Group 1, patients with at least one visit in the final 4 weeks; and Group 2, patients with no visit to ED. Demographic and clinical features were compared between the two groups.
Descriptive statistical methods, statistical analysis for correlation, Student's t-test, chi-square tests and logistic regression were used.
At least one visit to ED within one month before death was reported for 64 (60%) of the 107 cases. Of these 64 (Group 1), 38% (n=24) were discharged and 9% (n=6) died in the ED. The most common site of the primary tumor was the lung (n=24, 38%) and the most common symptom was dyspnea (92%). With the other 43 (40%) cancer patients not presenting to the ED within one month before death, they were more likely to be female with another type of cancer.
Guidelines are needed for better management of cancer patients benefiting from visits to ED within the last month of life .
尽管先前的研究报告称大多数恶性肿瘤患者希望在家中去世，但这并非临床实践中的真实情况。
在本研究中，我们旨在确定在死亡前一个月内入住急诊科（ED）的土耳其癌症患者的特征。
这项描述性回顾性研究聚焦于癌症患者在死亡前前往急诊科的频率及原因相关问题。共有107例癌症患者被分为两组：第1组为在最后4周内至少就诊一次的患者；第2组为未前往急诊科就诊的患者。对两组的人口统计学和临床特征进行比较。
采用描述性统计方法、相关性统计分析、学生t检验、卡方检验和逻辑回归分析。
107例患者中有64例（60%）报告在死亡前一个月内至少前往急诊科就诊一次。在这64例患者（第1组）中，38%（n = 24）出院，9%（n = 6）在急诊科死亡。原发肿瘤最常见的部位是肺（n = 24，38%），最常见的症状是呼吸困难（92%）。另外43例（40%）癌症患者在死亡前一个月内未前往急诊科就诊，她们更可能为患有其他类型癌症的女性。
需要制定指南，以便更好地管理在生命最后一个月内前往急诊科就诊的癌症患者。
