What can family physicians contribute in palliative home care in Taiwan?

BACKGROUND Family physicians in Taiwan have expressed low willingness to provide palliative home care. OBJECTIVE To explore the medical needs of terminal cancer patients in home care and thus clarify the role and tasks of family physicians in providing palliative home care. METHODS Seventy-seven terminal cancer patients discharged from a palliative care unit from July 2003 to July 2004 who had received family physician home visits were enrolled. A structured assessment form was applied to each visit. RESULTS Under the collaboration by the palliative home care team and family physicians, the average interval from discharge to the first physician visit was 20.3 days and the average interval between physician visits was 37.9 days. The patients had an average of 5.9 active medical problems: the most frequent problem was pain (58.4%), followed by anorexia (42.9%) and constipation (42.9%). Forty-four patients (58.7%) died at home, while 31 patients (41.3%) eventually died in the hospital. Through multiple logistic regression analysis, patients who had never been rehospitalized [odds ratio (OR) = 12.95, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 3.41-49.19], who preferred to die at home (OR = 4.68, 95% CI = 1.21-18.09) and who were most functionally dependent with an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group scale = 4 (OR = 4.36, 95% CI = 1.02-18.64) were found to be most likely to die at home under this care model. CONCLUSION Through palliative home care with the participation of family physicians, patients' preference could be a significant determinant of home death. Our finding can be helpful to the establishment of an ethical care model for terminal cancer patients.