Application of interdisciplinary collaborative hospice care for terminal geriatric cancer patients: A prospective randomised controlled study

Abstract Background Hospice care (HC) is specialized medical care for terminal patients who are nearing the end of life. Interdisciplinary collaborative hospice care (ICHC) is where experts from different disciplines and patients/caregivers form a treatment team to establish shared patient care goals. However, the ICHC efficacy has not been frequently studied in the terminal geriatric cancer patients (TGCPs) population. This study aimed to gain insight into ICHC provided to TGCPs by an ICHC team and identify factors to ameliorate multidimensional HC. Methods 166 TGCPs were equally divided into ICHC group and life-sustaining treatments (LSTs) group as control. The scores of these questionnaires [such as EORTC QLQ-C30, Hamilton Anxiety Scale], the median survival time (MST), symptoms improvement, the median average daily cost of drugs (MADDC), the median total cost of drugs (MTDC) in the last 2 days, and medical care satisfaction were observed in both groups. Results After treatment, the emotional function and symptoms in the ICHC group were statistically higher improvement than those in the LSTs group (P < 0.05). The MADDC and the MTDC in the last 2 days were statistically lower in the ICHC group than those in the LSTs group (P < 0.01). In addition, the overall satisfaction situation and the cooperation ability in the ICHC group were statistically higher than those in the LSTs group (P < 0.01). Conclusion The ICHC could provide TGCPs with coordinated, comfortable, high-quality, and humanistic care.