Background: Admission to the palliative care unit is a very difficult and emotional moment for the patients at the end of life and for their families. One of the most important questions for the patient, family, and staff is that of the remaining length of life. The literature describes blood test parameters useful in predicting the remaining length of life. It would be interesting to define the best predictors of remaining length of life in our population of terminally ill cancer patients.
Purpose: To find among the items of complete blood tests and Semi-Analyzed Chemistry (SMAC) the most reliable indicators of the remaining length of life (IRLL).
Results: Our on-going statistical work (based on the blood tests of 1200 patients) aims to find out whether there is any prognostic benefit in routine blood tests on inpatient hospice admission and if so, to identify the most sensitive and reliable indicators.
Conclusion: The availability of these relatively cheap prognostic tools could improve our capacity to more effectively support patient and family in planning the last period of life and also to use our own limited resources more efficiently.