Patients with some respiratory conditions often do not receive outpatient palliative care and have relatively higher rates of intensive care admissions than those with other illnesses.
This includes patients with lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and a condition called idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), according to a recent study published in the pulmonology journal CHEST. These patients tend to have high symptom burden, diminished quality of life and aggressive health care utilization at the end of life, the study found.
“Patients with COPD and IPF are less likely to receive outpatient palliative care and opioid prescriptions and more likely to use end-of-life intensive care than patients with lung cancer,” study authors indicated. “Further research should explore health system barriers contributing to differences in care patterns to optimize quality of life and align with patient goals of care.”
Among 1,819 patients, patients with COPD and IPF were more likely to be male and older at the time of death, compared to patients with lung cancer. Patients with COPD and IPF were also less likely to receive outpatient palliative care and had a high probability of end-of-life ICU admissions.
However, patients with IPF had higher odds of receiving inpatient palliative care, the research found.
Researchers compared rates of outpatient palliative care utilization and opioid prescriptions, access to inpatient palliative care, hospitalizations, ICU admissions, and in-hospital deaths among patients with lung cancer, COPD and IPF.
“While proactive integration of palliative care in lung cancer can improve outcomes, it is unclear whether similar practices have been adopted in COPD and IPF care,” the authors wrote.