Disclosure of Survival Prediction Prior to Referral to the Palliative Care Department: Retrospective Study

ABSTRACT

<p>There are few reports on the disclosure of survival prediction to patients themselves in Japan, and how concretely it is performed. We retrospectively studied the disclosure of survival prediction to patients who were referred for the first medical examination to the Palliative Care Department between April 2013 and March 2016. Two hundred forty-eight patients (and their families) met the study criteria. Forty-three percent of the patients and their families had received information on definite periods of life expectancy without probability or ranges. On the other hand, 19% of the patients and families had not been told about survival prediction by the previous physician. Our results suggest that patients and families often received information on definite periods of life expectancy. There will be a need for improvement of end-of-life discussion in Japan.</p>