A cohort study of patients with advanced cancer and their informal caregivers has found that five factors appear to be associated with the highest quality of life (QOL) at the end of life: 1. Avoidance of hospitalization and the ICU. 2. Less patient worrying. 3. Religious prayer or meditation. 4. Pastoral care within the hospital or clinic. 5. Patient–physician therapeutic alliance. Site of cancer care, feeding-tube use in the final week, hospital deaths, and chemotherapy in the final week were associated with lower QOL.
Abstract: Archives of Internal Medicine, August 13, 2012.
