Abstract 1454P
Background
Palliative care has an irrefutable part to play in oncologic management. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, where many patients are unable to visit hospitals, tele-palliative care has become an attractive option. We conducted this study intending to assess the impact of tele-palliative care on the quality of life (QOL) of cancer patients in the setting of this pandemic.
Methods
60 patients of advanced stages of cancer on supportive care were prospectively recruited into the study. Each patient was assessed by physicians at baseline and every 2 weeks thereafter for 6 weeks and analysed for the difference in score. The baseline assessment was in-person and the subsequent assessments were made over the phone and utilizing teleconferencing services when needed. At each assessment, patients received supportive care, symptomatic medication, and counselling as required. The quality of life at baseline and at 6 weeks of receiving tele-palliative care was assessed using the functional assessment of chronic illness therapy- palliative care (FACIT-Pal) version 4 questionnaire. The questionnaire had 5 sub-scales which are used to calculate three quality of life indices, FACIT-Pal Trial Outcome Index (TOI), FACT-G, and FACIT-Pal Total score. The higher the score of the indices, the better is the QOL.
Results
At 6 weeks, all the sub-scale scores and indices showed a significant improvement improved when compared to baseline except for the emotional well-being subscale. Among the indices, the improvement in the mean scores was the highest (8.01%) for TOI and the least (6.03%) for the FACIT-PAL total score. The mean of TOI at 6 weeks was 88, standard deviation (SD) of 16.69,95% CI 83.69-92.31) compared to mean at baseline 77.43(SD-16.52, 95% CI 73.16-81.70) with a p-value of <0.0001. The mean of FACIT-Pal total at baseline was 112.08(SD-20.45, 95% CI 106.79-117.36) and at 6 weeks, the mean was 123.17(SD-20.58, 95% CI-117.86-128.49) with a p-value of <0.0001.
Conclusions
Tele-palliative care in the background of the COVID-19 has resulted in improved QOL of symptomatic cancer patients. This study reiterates the importance of palliative care and encourages us to devise ways to provide this invaluable service.
Clinical trial identification
Editorial acknowledgement
Legal entity responsible for the study
The authors.
Funding
Has not received any funding.
Disclosure
All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.