Survey on medical treatments and symptoms of patients with cancer undergoing palliative treatment with home medical care followed at Georges-Francois-Leclerc cancer centre in Dijon (France)

Purpose. - The main aim of the survey was to describe the medical treatments and symptoms of patients with cancer in the last seven days of their lives. Patients were undergoing a palliative treatment in a home medical care setting. Material and methods. - This work was a single-centre retrospective survey which included all patients under palliative treatment with home medical care, who died between May 2011 and May 2018 at Georges-Francois-Leclerc cancer centre in Dijon (Burgundy), France. Results. - Ninety patients were included in the survey. The majority were women (two thirds of the patients), with an average age of 65 years. Main symptoms were disorders of consciousness (91%), anxiety (81%), pain (78%), dyspnoea (61%) and restlessness (41%). An analgesic treatment was given to 97% of the patients, a corticoid therapy to 81% and transdermal scopolamine to 49% of the patients. Midazolam was given to 61% of the patients. Forty percent of the patients had an intravenous hydration and their mean age was significantly lower than patients not requiring hydration (60.7 vs. 67.4; P=0,0255). Among patients having chemotherapy, 27% received a cure in the last month of their life. These patients had a high prognosis score (13 had a Pronopall score above or equals to 8). Conclusion. - This survey shows that cancer palliative treatment in a home medical care setting is in agreement with current national recommendations and with data described in the literature. (C) 2019 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.