Background

Pediatric palliative care aims to respond to the needs of children with life-threatening and/or life-limiting diseases and their families from a bio-psycho-social and spiritual perspective. The pediatric palliative care unit of Sant Joan de Deu Hospitalis was designed to address these needs, both in hospital and at home. The trend and prevalence of where children die varies over time and depends on diverse features.

Objective

Describe the factors associated with the place of death in a population of patients seen by a Pediatric Palliative Care Unit.

Methodology

Cross-sectional, retrospective observational, descriptive and correlational study of the patients attended by the unit of the Sant Joan de Deu Hospital between the years 2010 and 2015. The population includes all of the children treated by the unit in the above-mentioned period excluding those who exceeded their life expectancy.

Results:

Out of the 198 studied patients - aged from 0 days to 22 years - 41,9% died at home. The average of follow- up time was 184 days. Most of the cases were addressed from Oncology (50%) and Neurology (28, 3%).The present population consisted of children with severe illnesses, generally incurables and life-limiting or life threatening.

It exists a high correlation between the follow-up time and the amount of telephone inquiry and home consultation. The remaining time at the unit was higher on children who died at home comparing to the hospital setting.

The analysis of the differences between onco-hematological or non onco-hematological illnesses led to the detection of a statistical significance between the different kind of consultation (at hospital, home or telematic ones).

Conclusions:

The length of stay of patients in the pediatric palliative care unit is associated with the likelihood of death occurring at home.

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