ASSESSMENT OF PALLIATIVE CARE IN UNIVERSITY TEACHING HOSPITAL SOUTHEAST, NIGERIA: A 5-YEAR ENROLMENT REVIEW

Palliative care is an approach that enables patients to
live as long as possible with dignity, improve quality of
life without pain and support given to their primary
caregivers. The purpose of this study is to review the
patients who received palliative care in the palliative
care unit of UNTH from 2013 to 2017. A retrospective
research method was used for the study. The instrument
for data collection was a researcher-structured
proforma. The study involved 249 enrolled patients for
palliative care. Data generated were statistically
analyzed using descriptive statistics and presented in
form of tables and bar charts. The result shows that
females are more (79.5%), and most patients are above
40 years. The predominant chronic disease is breast
cancer (29.7%,), followed by cervical cancer
42(16.9%), and head and neck 18 (7.8%) respectively.
The leading symptom experienced by the patients is pain
(57.4%), and almost all the patients (97.6%) are
enrolled at UNTH. Moreover, less than half of the
enrolled patients (47%) spend less than 30 days on the
programme. Furthermore, more than half of the enrolled
patients died (55.6%), while 45% are lost-to-follow up
during the period under review. This study indicate that
the palliative care given to cancer patients in the
palliative care unit of UNTH include the use of morphine
(50%) as drugs for symptom management,
Psychological and physical nursing care, including
home services. In conclusion, there is late
presentation/referral of patients to palliative care unit
and numbers of patients with non-malignant chronic
diseases referred for palliative care services are few.
Thus, increase in awareness of the public and health care
professional about palliative care should be prioritized.

• Author details: OMOTOLA | NGOZI | J. | ngozi.omotola@uun.edu.ng | 08036349572, OZULU | CHISOM | E. | ail Addredyzulus@gmail.com | .08066106245, OPARA | HOPE | C. | hope.opara@unn.edu.ng | 08038850062., OBIEKWU | ADAOBI | L. | ada.obiekwu@unn.edu.ng | 08061247303., MBADUGHA | CHISOM | J. | address:chisom.mbadugha@unn.edu | 07030821648, MADU | OBIAGELI | THERESA | s: obiageli.madu@unn.edu.ng | : 08030896703
• Keywords: palliative care, enrolment review, non-malignant chronic disease
• Manuscript: Lautech Paper 3-2e9a67da