Palliative needs in a list of users of a family health unit from an urban center

Abstract

Introduction: The Portuguese population is aging, and palliative needs are expected to increase. One of the barriers to timely access to a palliative care approach is the difficulty in identifying patients who could benefit from them. Most patients with palliative needs are in the community, whereby Primary Health Care teams are in the best position to identify these patients. Different studies have evaluated palliative needs in a hospital context, and to date it has not been possible to identify national studies in Primary Care. Objective: Evaluate palliative needs in a list of patients of a Family Health Unit. Methods: Cross-sectional observational study on a sample of patients aged 65 years or older from a list of a Portuguese Family Health Care, through the application of the SPICT-PT™. Results: A total of 188 patients aged 65 years or older were included. Cardiovascular disease was the most frequent main underlying disease (n=57, 30,3%), followed by oncologic disease (n=31, 16,5%) and hypertension (n=28, 14,9%). 50 patients were identified as having palliative care needs (SPICT-PTTM-positive), which had a median age significantly higher than that of the SPICT-PTTM-negative, with no statistical differences concerning gender. All the patients referred to the Palliative Care team were SPICT-PTTM-positive. Conclusion: More studies are needed to evaluate the nature and complexity of palliative needs in Primary Care and to address the strategies used after the identification of these needs.

Keywords

• palliative care; needs assessment; primary health care; family practice