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Abstract

Introduction: Dementia, as an abnormal and pathological aging, requires close and constant care, making these patients a challenge for their families and caregivers. Therefore, palliative care home teams are a valuable asset in providing care for these patients. This study aims to characterize, in general, patients with dementia followed a palliative care home team (PCHT) from a hospital over 2 years, evaluating, in particular, the classes of drugs used in symptomatic control, prevalent symptoms, comorbidities, feeding route, complications and place of death.
Methods: Data were collected through the analysis of patients' clinical records, excluding those without clinical information in the record, without a diagnosis of dementia, or with follow-up outside the defined time frame. A database was used to record the results.
Results: Of the 335 patients followed by a PCHT for 2 years, 39 had a diagnosis of dementia. In these patients with dementia, 36 were polymedicated in the first evaluation by PCHT. Regarding comorbidities, only 2 patients did not present multiple pathologies. In terms of hospitalizations, 30 patients did not have any hospital admissions during the follow-up period. In 79% of cases, death occurred at the location where the patient resided (home/nursing home/continuing care unit).
Conclusion: Advanced dementia is associated with multiple complications. In the end-of-life, care goals focus on the patient's comfort, allowing the patient to remain in their family environment, with the goal, as much as possible, to the final outcome to be at at home, Characterizing this population has proven to be of crucial importance for a better future approach, in order to improve care strategies for this population