The Prevalence of Cancer Patients Requiring Palliative Care and Its Associated Factors at St. Paul Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND: Cancer has been the leading cause of death worldwide with its various enormous socio-economic impacts. Hence, early palliative care implementation is a potent addition to oncology for the treatment of physical, mental, and psychological pain in cancer patients. Therefore, this article aims to assess the prevalence of patients requiring palliative care and its associated factors among admitted cancer patients. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among cancer patients who were admitted to oncology wards during the data collection period at St. Paul Hospital, Ethiopia. The Palliative Care Indicators Tool in Low-Income Settings (SPICT-LIS) was used to determine the need for palliative care. The collected data was entered into EpiData version 3.1 and exported to Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26 for analysis. A multivariable logistic regression was used to analyze the predictors of palliative care need. RESULTS: A total of 301 cancer patients were included in this study, with a mean age of 42 years (SD=1.38). The prevalence of palliative care needs among the patients in this study was 10.6% (n=32). The study revealed that the need for palliative care increases as the age of the patient increases and suggested that cancer patients who were above 61 years old were two times (AOR=2.39 95% CI=0.34–16.55) more likely to need palliative care than others. Male patients had a significantly higher requirement for palliative care compared to female patients (AOR=5.31, 95% CI=1.68–11.79). CONCLUSION: The manuscript describes the palliative care needs of patients with cancer admitted to St. Paul Hospital in Ethiopia. The study revealed that the health status of a significant number of cancer patients in the hospital was deteriorating. Hence, the hospital administrators and the oncology ward staff are recommended to pay attention to the identified factors.