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2026-12-31
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- INI - Artigos de Periódicos [3505]
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TRENDS IN HEALTH-CARE UTILIZATION AT THE END OF LIFE AMONG PATIENTS WITH HEMATOLOGIC MALIGNANCIES IN A MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRY: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN BRAZIL
Palliative care
Hematologic malignancies
Health-care utilization
Quality indicators
Latin America
Middle-income country
Affilliation
Unimed Federação Rio de Janeiro. Department of Health Services and Costs. End of Life Care Study Group. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
Unimed Federação Rio de Janeiro. Department of Health Services and Costs. End of Life Care Study Group. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas. Centro de Terapia Intensiva. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Unimed Federação Rio de Janeiro. Department of Health Services and Costs. End of Life Care Study Group. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas. Centro de Terapia Intensiva. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Abstract
Patients with hematologic malignancies (HMs) often receive poor-quality end-of-life care. This study aimed to identify trends in end-of-life care among patients with HM in Brazil. We conducted a retrospective cohort study (2015-2018) of patients who died with HM, using electronic medical records linked to health insurance databank, to evaluate outcomes consistent with health-care resource utilization at the end of life. Among 111 patients with HM, in the last 30 days of life, we found high rates of emergency department visits (67%, n ¼ 75), intensive care unit admissions (56%, n ¼ 62), acute renal replacement therapy (10%, n ¼ 11), blood ransfusions (45%, n ¼ 50), and medical imaging utilization (59%, n ¼ 66). Patients received an average of 13 days of inpatient care and the majority of them died in the hospital (53%, n ¼ 58). We also found that almost 40% of patients (38%, n ¼ 42) used chemotherapy in the last 14 days of life. These patients were more likely to be male (64% vs 22%; P < .001), to receive blood transfusions (57% vs 38%; P ¼ .05), and to die in the hospital (76% vs 39%; P ¼ .009) than patients who did not use chemotherapy in the last 14 days of life. This study suggests that patients with HM have high rates of health-care utilization at the end of life in Brazil. Patients who used chemotherapy in the last 14 days of life were more likely to receive blood transfusions and to die in the hospital.
Keywords
End-of-life carePalliative care
Hematologic malignancies
Health-care utilization
Quality indicators
Latin America
Middle-income country
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