Table 3 Current status of minor indicators in the integration of oncology and palliative care programs in Japan
From: Current status of integrating oncology and palliative care in Japan: a nationwide survey
Designated Cancer Hospitals (n = 269) | Non-Designated Cancer Hospitals (n = 150) | P-value | Adjusted P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
n (%) | n (%) | |||
Clinical Process | ||||
Institutionally accepted palliative care symptom management guidelines in written format | 239 (88.9) | 118 (78.7) | 0.004 | 0.238 |
Institutionally accepted palliative care referral criteria available in written format | 193 (71.7) | 88 (58.7) | < 0.001 | 0.077 |
Available institutionally accepted clinical care pathways (automatic triggers) for palliative care referral | 47 (17.8) | 8 (5.3) | < 0.001 | < 0.001 |
Palliative care team routinely involved in multidisciplinary tumor conference for patient case discussions | ||||
Attending always | 128 (47.6) | 38 (25.3) | < 0.001 | < 0.001 |
Attending when necessary | 104 (38.7) | 42 (28.0) | ||
Not attending | 32 (11.9) | 22 (14.7) | ||
Multidisciplinary tumor conference is not held/no palliative care team | 3 (1.1) | 46 (30.7) | ||
Presence of palliative care specialists among cancer center senior leadership (e.g., head of oncology department/division and chief executives) | 103 (38.3) | 44 (29.3) | < 0.001 | 0.052 |
Administration of systemic cancer therapy (e.g., chemotherapy and targeted agents) in palliative care patients possible | 263 (97.8) | 145 (96.7) | 0.115 | 0.262 |
Availability of the same-day inpatient palliative care consultation upon request | ||||
Almost all (≥90%) | 192 (71.4) | 69 (46.0) | < 0.001 | < 0.001 |
Mostly (50–89%) | 60 (22.3) | 41 (27.3) | ||
Less likely (< 49%) | 14 (5.2) | 28 (18.7) | ||
Not available | 0 (0.0) | 12 (8.0) | ||
Availability of same-day outpatient palliative care consultation upon request | ||||
Almost all (≥90%) | 140 (52.0) | 42 (28.0) | < 0.001 | < 0.001 |
Mostly (50–89%) | 72 (26.8) | 49 (32.7) | ||
Less likely (< 49%) | 52 (19.3) | 35 (23.3) | ||
Not available | 2 (0.7) | 23 (15.3) | ||