Photo courtesy of the CDC
Doctor evaluating patient
New research provides an explanation for the fact that US patients with hematologic malignancies are less likely to enroll in hospice care than patients with solid tumor malignancies.
Results of a national survey suggest that concerns about the adequacy of hospice may prevent hematologic oncologists from referring their patients.
Researchers say this finding, published in Cancer, points to potential means of improving end-of-life care for patients with hematologic malignancies.
Oreofe Odejide, MD, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts, and her colleagues carried out this study.
The team conducted a survey of a national sample of hematologic oncologists listed in the publicly available clinical directory of the American Society of Hematology.
More than 57% of physicians who were contacted provided responses, for a total of 349 respondents.
The survey included questions about views regarding the helpfulness and adequacy of home hospice services for patients with hematologic malignancies, as well as factors that would impact oncologists’ likelihood of referring patients to hospice.
More than 68% of hematologic oncologists strongly agreed that hospice care is “helpful” for patients with hematologic malignancies.
However, 46% of the oncologists felt that home hospice is “inadequate” for the needs of patients with hematologic malignancies, when compared to inpatient hospice.
Still, most of the respondents who believed home hospice is inadequate said they would be more likely to refer patients if platelet and red blood cell transfusions were readily available.
“Our findings are important as they shed light on factors that are potential barriers to hospice referrals,” Dr Odejide said. “These findings can be employed to develop targeted interventions to address hospice underuse for patients with blood cancers.”
