Background: Recently, there has been a growing interest in the use of artificial hydration therapy (AHT) for terminally ill cancer patients. Some studies have demonstrated that appropriate hydration can contribute to patient comfort; however, few studies have examined the effects of volume reduction on patient symptoms and quality of life (QOL).
Objective: This study aimed to clarify the effects of reducing the volume of artificial hydration based on the Japanese guideline in terminally ill cancer patients with hydration-related symptoms on the alleviation of various symptoms and QOL.
Methods: Of the 273 terminally ill cancer patients who were transferred from other hospitals for palliative care over the last 2 years, 78 patients who presented with hydration-related symptoms at the time of admission were analyzed. We performed guideline-based AHT and reduced the volume of hydration with standard pharmacological therapy. The effects on the alleviation of hydration-related symptoms and QOL were examined using a numeric rating scale and item 30 of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality-of-Life Questionnaire-C30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) to compare values measured before and one week after AHT. We also evaluated patient satisfaction and the feeling of benefit from hydration one week after the study commenced.
Results: Hydration-related symptoms (nausea, 16 cases; abdominal pain/distention, 22 cases; peripheral edema, 32 cases; and dyspnea, 15 cases) were significantly improved after performing guideline-based AHT (p=0.024, p=0.003, p<0.0001, and p=0.046, respectively). General QOL scores, global satisfaction, and feeling of benefit were also significantly improved after performing guideline-based AHT (p<0.0001, p=0.0001, and p=0.001, respectively).
Conclusions: The provision of appropriate guideline-based AHT can contribute to alleviating hydration-related symptoms and improving QOL in terminally ill cancer patients.