Survival Prediction of Patients Who Were Terminally Ill Using the EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL Scores and Laboratory Test Values

BACKGROUND: Prognostics for patients with cancer is especially important for the supportive care of those who are terminally ill. We previously found that symptom scores as patient-reported outcomes (PROs)—such as dyspnea and fatigue scores—some biochemical parameters, the palliative performance scale (PPS) scores, and symptom clusters were useful prognostic factors; however, the predictability of a prognosis based on these factors remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: To identify appropriate three-week survival predictive factor(s), in terms of performance, in patients who were terminally ill. DESIGN: We collected symptom scores as PROs using the Japanese version of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 15 Palliative Care (EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL). SETTING/SUBJECTS: We used data from terminally ill patients with cancer who were hospitalized at the palliative care unit of the Higashisumiyoshi-Morimoto Hospital (Osaka, Japan) from June 2018 to December 2019 (n = 130), as well as additional data obtained from the same clinical study from January to March 2020 (n = 31). MEASUREMENTS: To evaluate predictive performance, indices such as sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and overall accuracy were calculated. RESULTS: We found that the presence of a symptom cluster showed high sensitivity but low specificity and that a higher PPS value (>30) showed high specificity but low sensitivity, suggesting that these factors could provide relevant information for survival prognosis (less than or equal to three weeks). CONCLUSION: Symptom clusters obtained from patients is important for effective supportive care of those who are terminally ill.