Classification and staging of terminal cancer patients: rationale and objectives of a multicentre cohort prospective study and methods used. The Italian Co-operative Research Group on Palliative Medicine.

The special circumstances surrounding a terminally ill patient require that a classification system for case-mix and staging take quality of life as its main endpoint. From all possible variables relevant to the case-mix description, a small group of variables relating to the functional status, physical symptoms, psychocognitive problems, and financial status have been isolated in order to identify a limited number of groups of patient who differ in terms of quality of life and/or survival throughout the entire period of treatment in a palliative care unit (PCU). The study is still in progress and involves an estimated sample of about 900 terminal cancer patients being cared for in 61 PCUs in Italy. This paper provides information about the rationale and objectives of the study and the methods used.