Christ et al evaluated mortality for patients transferred to an acute palliative care unit. They identified predictors for death with 72 hours of the transfer. The authors are from University of Zurich in Switzerland.
Patient selection: admission to an acute palliative care unit
Predictors for early death:
(1) no prior palliative care consult
(2) no advance care directive
(3) low performance status (ECOG 4)
(4) low self-care index (< 20), based on 10 items scored from 1 to 4, with scores from 10 (completely dependent) to 40 (completely independent)
(5) low serum albumin (< 26 g/L)
Identification of a patient at risk for acute transfer sooner allows for better care coordination and fewer transfers.
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