How palliative care of cancer patients is organised between a University Hospital and primary care in Finland

Figures & data

Table I.  Characteristics of the cancer patients discharged from the Helsinki University Central Hospital after termination of oncological treatment (n = 102).

Sex
Male	44
Female	58
Age
Mean age is 67 years (range 39–86 years)
Primary location of the cancer
Gastrointestinal tract	31%
Lung	14%
Breast	13%
Gynaecological organs	10%
Prostata	9%
Other urological tract	6%
Lymphoma	4%
Others	13%

Table II.  The number and percentage of cancer patients interviewed at different intervals after the treatment termination and discharge from the Helsinki University Central Hospital.

	Patients
Time from treatment termination (weeks, months)	n	%
1 week	102	100%
1 month	69	68%
2 months	41	40%
3 months	29	28%
6 months	9	9%

Table III.  The distribution of cancer patients treated at some time in different units (1–5 units/patient).

	Patients (n = 102)
	n	%
Out-patients
Health centre	36	35%
Home care team	24	24%
Home-hospital	15	15%
Hospice, home care	14	14%
In-patients
City hospital	54	53%
University hospital	20	20%
Hospice, ward	18	18%
Other hospitals (regional, private)	17	17%

Figure 1.  The incidences (% of patients) of symptoms at 1 week (n = 102), 1 month (n = 69), 2 months (n = 41), 3 months (n = 29) and 6 months (n = 9) after treatment termination and discharge from the Helsinki University Central Hospital (Fat.-fatigue, Lapp.-loss of appetite, Cons.-constipation, Pain, Dysp.-dyspnoe, Naus.-nausea, Vom.-vomiting, Diar.-diarrhoea).

Figure 2.  The maximum and the minimum intensities of pain during the last two days by the five-point verbal rating scale (no pain, slight, moderate, considerable, severe) 1 week (37 patients), 1 month (30 patients), 2 months (18 patients), 3 months (12 patients) and 6 months (4 patients) after treatment termination in Helsinki University Central Hospital.