Resumo

HERRERA-GUERRERO, Mariana I. et al. The correlation of Karnofsky Performance Status with survival in patients with gastrointestinal tumors in a palliative care unit. Cir. gen [online]. 2014, vol.36, n.3, pp.134-137. ISSN 1405-0099.

Introduction: Cancer is a public health problem, currently focusing on prevention and treatment; however, in many cases survival is still less than 6 months. For this reason, resource optimization is mandatory. Our objective is to determine if there is a correlation between the Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) and overall survival in patients with gastrointestinal tumors in a Palliative Care Unit (PCU).

Methods: We evaluated 144 consecutive records and examined demographic data, KPS, primary tumor site, time from diagnosis to admission to the PCU, total of symptoms in the first visit to the PCU, time from admission to PCU to the death, and the place of death. The correlation of the KPS and the survival was found using the Spearman correlation. The data were analyzed using SPSS 16.0 software.

Results: The study included a total of 55 patients, of whom 23 were male and 32 were female and with a mean age of 63.91± 14.04 years. A KPS of 60% was found in 14 patients. The admission to the PCU was on the same day of diagnosis (81.8%). The median of positive symptoms (ESAS) was 6. The median of survival in the PCU was 24 days, demonstrating a statistically significant (P=.001) correlation between the KPS and survival. The most frequent place of death was at home (65.5%).

Conclusions: As regards resource optimization, it is important to be able to predict the overall survival and the KPS is very useful to do this; however more studies are required to evaluate the usefulness of symptoms as predictors.

Palavras-chave : Cancer; Palliative care; Overall survival; Gastrointestinal tumors.

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