Changes in medication profile among patients with advanced cancer admitted to an acute palliative care unit

The decision-making process for medication use in the last weeks of life is complex because of patient frailty and poor prognosis. Limited literature is available on medication use in the palliative care setting, particularly in acute palliative care units (APCUs). We examined the changes in medication profile among hospitalized patients with advanced cancer before their palliative care inpatient consultation team referral, after palliative care consultation, at the time of APCU admission, and at APCU discharge or death.

We included consecutive patients with advanced cancer who were first seen by our inpatient palliative care consultation team and subsequently admitted to the APCU. We retrieved data on all scheduled medications at the prespecified time points.

Among the 100 patients, the median duration of hospitalization was 10.5 days (interquartile range 8–15 days), and the median APCU stay was 5 days (interquartile range 3–7 days). The average number of medications before palliative care inpatient consultation team referral, after palliative care consultation, at APCU admission and at APCU discharge/death was 9.2 (standard deviation [SD] 4.5), 9.9 (SD 4.2), 10.3 (SD 3.8), and 10.1 (SD 3.8), respectively (P = 0.03). An increasing proportion of patients received medications for symptom control over their course of hospitalization, including systemic corticosteroids, laxatives, neuroleptics, and antiulcer agents (P < 0.05). In contrast, the frequency of several classes of medications such as antihypertensives, antilipemics, and anticonvulsants decreased over time (P < 0.05).

Palliative care involvement was associated with an increase in symptom control medications and decrease in medications for comorbid conditions over time.