Background: Prognostic assessment is essential to plan the care of patients with advanced cancer in palliative care.
Objective: Thus, this study aims to assess the predictors of death in inpatients with advanced cancer in palliative care.
Methods: This is a clinical, observational cohort study with patients aged >20 years, of both genders, evaluated within 48 hours of the first hospitalization. The independent variables were tumor location, nutritional risk [through the Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) short form], laboratory tests [C-reactive protein and albumin] and Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS). Logistic regression analyses were performed.
Results: Eighty-two patients were evaluated, whose mean age was 61.8 (± 13.2) years. Forty-nine (59.8%) patients died during hospitalization, among which the majority had KPS of 30-40% (p-value = 0.043), higher means of the total score of the PG-SGA (p-value = 0.050) and lower serum albumin concentrations (p-value = 0.011). According to the multivariate model, tumor location in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract (OR: 1.73; 95% CI: 1.57-1.94), 30-40% KPS (OR: 1.29; 95% CI: 1.07-1.63) and albumin concentrations <3.5 g/dL (OR: 4.65; 95% CI: 1.22-17.7) were independent factors associated with an increased chance of death from hospitalization.
Conclusion: Presenting an advanced tumor with localization in the GI tract, KPS ≤40% and serum albumin concentration <3.5 g/dL at admission were predictors of death in inpatients under palliative care.
Keywords: advanced cancer; albumin; functionality; mortality; palliative care; prognosis.