Percepción de la calidad de vida y satisfacción con la asistencia sanitaria recibida en un grupo de pacientes oncológicos terminales que reciben cuidados paliativos en un hospital de Zaragoza, España

Abstract

Background and objectiveThe aim of this study is to determine the perceived quality of life of terminal cancer patients receiving palliative care, and the influence of health care satisfaction in the quality of life of these patients. EORTC scales were used to collect this information. Patients and methodsDescriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 47 terminal cancer patients on palliative care in the Oncology Unit of the «Hospital Clínico Universitario Lozano Blesa», Zaragoza (Spain), during February, March and April 2014. The quality of life and the satisfaction with the health care were evaluated using the EORTC QLQ C15-PAL and EORTC INPATSAT32 questionnaires. ResultsThe participants had a mean age of 64 years, and included 57.4% males. All participants had a main support person, being their partner in 74.5% of cases. The most frequent diagnoses were lung, breast and colon cancer. Patients considered they had a good quality of life with a mean of 51.77 points, calculated with EORTC QLQ C15-PAL questionnaire. The satisfaction with health care, calculated with EORTC INPATSAT32, showed a good satisfaction with the medication and nursing care, as well as with the services and organisation, with 57.88, 57.54, and 52.2 points, respectively. In general, patients were very satisfied with the health care provided, with a mean score of 83 points. ConclusionsThe patients obtained a good quality of life, and they were very satisfied with the health care in general, although there was no relationship between the two.