Cuidados paliativos numa unidade de cuidados continuados integrados

: caraterização de doentes referenciados e admitidos e efetividade do controlo sintomático

Abstract

Introduction: Palliative Care is a problem and a need for Public Health due to the number of people involved affected, the need for experts to deal with these situations, the universality of death, which is associated with normally avoidable suffering, the impact on survivors and the impact family and state. The patient does not necessarily need to be in palliative care unit. In the integrated continuous care units, it is also possible to provide excellent care to these patients. Methodology: Epidemiological, observational, longitudinal prospective and analytical study. 121 surveys were carried out on 56 patients. The sociodemographic and clinical characterization of the sample and referral / admission process was carried out, as well as the symptomatic control. The effectiveness of symptomatic control alone was analyzed using the FACIT-PAL scale and considering the place of care, the diagnosis of the disease, age and the existence of a caregiver. Results: The participants were, mostly, women, with old age, married / widowed, with basic education and had caregiver support. Regarding the type of disease, 31 patients (55.4%) were diagnosed with cancer. Hospital care was the service that most referred patients to the unit with a percentage of 48.2% (n = 27). The main reasons for referral were symptom control and dependence on activities of daily living. Admission was performed in the first days after referral and medians of survival were around the moth and a half. Most patients had their symptoms evaluated on the day of admission. There was a statistical significance between the existence of a caregiver and a higher quality of life alt the social and family level assessed by the FACIT-Pal scale. There was no effect of age. Conclusions: After the intervention of the team in the patients evaluated (oncology and non-oncology), there was an improvement in their quality of life. However, it is suggested to apply the questionnaire in larger samples, which will allow the consolidation of its results in future studies.

Date of Award	18 Dec 2020
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Manuel Luís Capelas (Supervisor)