Estimation of Need for Palliative Care in Urban Field Practice Area of Bengaluru- A Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

Background Palliative care is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families who are facing problems associated with life-threatening illnesses. Every year over 40 million people are in need of palliative care. According to a WHO survey funding for palliative care was available in 68 of countries and only 40 of countries reported that the services reached at least half of patients in need. As the coverage of palliative care services is inadequate data on number of people requiring palliative care services must be estimated prior to planning of services in a particular area.Objectives To estimate the need for palliative care in urban field practice area of a medical college in Bengaluru.Methodology A community based cross-sectional study was done in 741 households through stratified random sampling method in urban field practice area of BMCRI Bengaluru during the period of November and December 2021. Data was collected by conducting house to house survey and any available member of the household was interviewed. Descriptive and inferential statistics were done using SPSS 20.0 version.Results Out of 741 households 2557 individuals were surveyed. Twenty seven households had at least one family member who was in need of palliative care. The period prevalence of need of palliative care in this community was 10.51000 population. The most common disease condition in need of palliative care was cardiovascular disease 29.6. Most of them were females 1627.Conclusion Around 10.51000 population were identified to be in need of palliative care. The prevalence was highest among females lower socioeconomic class those with less education and those suffering from agerelated weakness.