Introduction: Malignant ureteral obstruction is associated with a poor prognosis, with a median survival of 3 to 7 months. These patients are ideal candidates for concurrent palliative care services, consistent with American Society of Clinical Oncology guidelines. We aimed to characterize palliative care, hospice, and end-of-life health care utilization in patients with malignant ureteral obstruction.
Methods: Patients ≥ 18 years old at our institution and diagnosed with malignant ureteral obstruction between May 2014 and August 2020 were retrospectively identified and pertinent data extracted. Palliative care, hospice, and end-of-life health care utilization was described, and factors associated with each were assessed with logistic regression models. Overall survival was assessed with Cox proportional hazard regression models.
Results: One hundred fifteen patients qualified for analysis; 39.1% (45/115) utilized palliative care and spent a median of 12.5 days (IQR 3-52 days) on nonhospice palliative care. On adjusted analysis Black ethnicity (aOR 3.44, 95% CI: 1.08-10.94) was associated with palliative care utilization. Of the patients, 53.9% (62/115) utilized hospice. The median time from hospice initiation to death was 12 days (IQR 5-23 days). On adjusted analysis, prior extirpative surgery (aOR 3.63, 95% CI 1.01-13.05) and palliative care utilization (aOR 4.38, 95% CI 1.70-11.31) were associated with hospice utilization. Median survival following diagnosis was 141 days (IQR 37.5-442.5). Of the patients, 43.0% (37/86) had high end-of-life health care utilization. On multivariable analysis, only hospice (aOR 0.03, 95% CI 0.01-0.14) was associated with less end-of-life health care utilization.
Conclusions: Palliative care is underutilized in malignant ureteral obstruction. Hospice, but not palliative care utilization, was associated with decreased end-of-life health care utilization.
Keywords: hospice; neoplasms; palliative care; ureteral obstruction.