Palliative care offers symptom relief and improved quality of life. Tertiary palliative care units (TPCUs) focus on complex suffering under the care of specialist palliative physicians and interdisciplinary teams. The Intensive Palliative Care Unit (IPCU) is a TPCU integrated in well-developed region-wide palliative services in Calgary, Canada. We compared the population accessing the IPCU to published data from other Canadian sites. Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted using 8 sample months over a 2-year period. We gleaned psychosocial and medical demographics alongside the self-reported symptom burden on the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System. Descriptive statistics were calculated. Results: Adults (n= 117) with cancer admitted to the IPCU were 5–10 years younger, had later-stage cancer, and had higher discharges to preferred locations than other published Canadian TPCUs. Up to two months before admission, most commonly reported symptoms were consistent with the outpatient literature although with higher reported intensity. Discussion: With more advanced disease, younger age, and elevated symptom burden before admission, the IPCU still discharged patients to preferred locations at higher rates than other sites. This may be due to integration in the region’s organized palliative care services. Conclusion: With proper integration, a TPCU may be able to improve quality of life and reduce deaths in hospitals.
姑息治疗旨在缓解症状并提升生活质量。三级姑息治疗单元（TPCUs）专注于在姑息治疗专科医师及跨学科团队的照护下处理复杂痛苦症状。强化姑息治疗病房（IPCU）是位于加拿大卡尔加里市、整合于该地区完善姑息治疗服务体系中的三级姑息治疗单元。本研究将IPCU收治患者群体特征与加拿大其他机构已发表数据进行比较。方法：通过回顾性病历分析，选取两年间8个抽样月份的数据，收集患者的社会心理与医学人口学资料，并结合埃德蒙顿症状评估系统的自述症状负担进行评估，计算描述性统计量。结果：IPCU收治的癌症成人患者（n=117）与其他已报道的加拿大三级姑息治疗单元相比，年龄年轻5-10岁，癌症分期更晚，且出院至首选地点的比例更高。在入院前两个月内，患者最常见报告症状与门诊文献记载一致，但自述强度更高。讨论：尽管IPCU收治患者疾病进展更晚、年龄更轻、入院前症状负担更重，其患者出院至首选地点的比例仍高于其他机构。这可能得益于该单元与区域内系统化姑息治疗服务的整合。结论：通过有效整合，三级姑息治疗单元有望提升患者生活质量并降低院内死亡发生率。
肿瘤(癌症)患者之家