Inpatient palliative care can help maintain quality of life (QoL) in patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT), based on the results of a randomized clinical trial to assess the effect of inpatient palliative care on patient and caregiver-reported outcomes while hospitalized for HCT and for 3 months after transplantation.
During the 2-week period following their transplants, patients who received inpatient palliative care experienced a 14.72-point decrease in QoL, compared with a 21.54-point decrease in QoL for those assigned to standard transplant care alone. The difference was statistically significant (JAMA. 2016;316[20]:2094-2103. doi:10.1001/jama.2016.16786).
In addition to the QoL results, Areej El-Jawahri, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and coauthors, noted that “exploratory secondary outcomes also showed that patients in the palliative care group benefited, with less increase in their depression symptoms, lower anxiety symptoms, and less increase in symptom burden compared with those receiving standard transplant care.
“Thus, palliative care may help to lessen the decline in QoL experienced by patients during hospitalization for HCT, which has long been perceived as a natural aspect of the transplantation process.”
The study cohort comprised 160 adults with hematologic malignancies undergoing autologous/allogeneic HCT, and 94 caregivers.
A total of 81 patients were assigned to the intervention, and were seen by palliative care clinicians at least twice a week while they were hospitalized. The palliative care intervention focused on managing both physical and psychological symptoms, and those who were assigned to the standard care arm (n = 79) could also request to be seen by the palliative care team.
Quality of life was measured based on mean FACT-BMT score. In the palliative care group, the FACT-BMT score was 110.26 at hospitalization and 95.46 at 2 weeks after transplant (mean change, −14.72). For the standard care group, FACT-BMT score was 106.83 at hospitalization and 85.42 at 2 weeks after transplant (mean change, −21.54) The −6.82 difference between the group groups was statistically significant (95% CI, −13.48 to −0.16; P = .045).
When looking at secondary outcomes, those in the intervention group had lower mean depression scores at 2 weeks based on the HADS-D measure. For the intervention group, the mean baseline score was 3.95 and the mean week 2 score was 6.39. For the control group, the baseline score was 4.94 and the week 2 score was 8.86. The difference between the groups was 1.49 (95% CI, 0.20-2.78; P = .02). Depression scores remained lower in the intervention group at 3 months.
The intervention group also reported a decrease in anxiety symptoms, but the control group reported an increase in anxiety symptoms from baseline to week 2 on the HADS-A measure. The mean difference in score between the two groups was 1.92; (95% CI, 0.83-3.01; P less than .001). However, there was no significant difference between the two groups at 3 months after transplant.
The study was supported by the National Palliative Care Research Foundation and grant K24 CA 181253 from the National Cancer Institute. Dr. El-Jawahri reported no disclosures.