Impact of Early Referral to Palliative Care in Patients with Interstitial Lung Disease.

Abstract

<b><i>Background:</i></b> Interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) have a major impact on survival and quality of life but only a small percentage of patients are referred for palliative care (PC). <b><i>Objective:</i></b> To assess the impact of early PC referral on hospital admissions, emergency department visits, and place of death in the last year of life. <b><i>Design:</i></b> This is a single-center retrospective observational study. <b><i>Setting/Subjects:</i></b> Subjects were patients with ILDs who attended the respiratory department of Hospital Santa Creu i Sant Pau (Barcelona, Spain) between 2011 and 2019. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Of the 51 included patients, 45% received early PC referral. Logistic regression indicated that early PC referral was independently associated with a lower risk of hospital admissions in the last year of life (OR = 0.16; 95% CI 0.03-0.75; <i>p</i> = 0.02) and a lower risk of dying in hospital (OR = 0.11; 95% CI 0.02-0.5; <i>p</i> = 0.009). <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> Early PC referral reduces the need for hospitalization and enables domiciliary death.