Background: For cancer patients nearing death, the prediction of their prognosis by physicians is crucial. This study examined the usefulness of the 1-Day Surprise Question (1DSQ).
Methods: This study was conducted as part of a multicenter prospective observational study. The physicians answered the 1DSQ "Would I be surprised if this patient died in the next 1 day?" when patients have palliative performance scale (PPS) ≤20. We calculated the sensitivity and specificity of the 1DSQ. Moreover, using multivariate analysis, we evaluated the characteristics of patients who died among those whose physicians answered the 1DSQ as "not surprised".
Results: Overall, 1,896 patients were enrolled, and 1,411 (74.4%) were analyzed between January and December 2017. Among these, 847 (60.0%) patients were placed in the "not surprised" group. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of the 1DSQ were 82.0% [95% confidence interval (CI): 77.5-85.8%], 45.5% (95% CI: 44.4-46.4%), 27.4% (95% CI: 25.9-28.7%), and 91.0% (95% CI: 88.9-92.9%), respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that urine output over last 12 hours <100 mL, decreased response to visual stimuli, respiration with mandibular movement, pulselessness of radial artery, and saturation of percutaneous oxygen <90% were characteristics of patients who died as predicted by the physicians.
Conclusions: The 1DSQ is a helpful screening tool for identifying cancer patients with impending death.
Keywords: Surprise question; cancer patient; impending death; palliative care unit (PCU); screening tool.