Perceived quality of life and satisfaction with health care received in a group of terminal cancer patients receiving palliative care in a hospital in Zaragoza, Spain

Background and objective: The aim of this study is to determine the perceived quality of life of terminal cancer patients receiving palliative care, and the influence of health care satisfactionin the quality of life of these patients. EORTC scales were used to collect this information. Patients and methods: Descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 47 terminal cancerpatients on palliative care in the Oncology Unit of the "Hospital Clinico Universitario LozanoBlesa", Zaragoza (Spain), during February, March and April 2014. The quality of life and the satisfaction with the health care were evaluated using the EORTC QLQ C15-PAL and EORTCINPATSAT32 questionnaires. Results: The participants had a mean age of 64 years, and included 57.4% males. All participantshad a main support person, being their partner in 74.5% of cases. The most frequent diagnoseswere lung, breast and colon cancer. Patients considered they had a good quality of life with a mean of 51.77 points, calculated with EORTC QLQ C15-PAL questionnaire. The satisfaction with health care, calculated with EORTC INPATSAT32, showed a good satisfaction with the medicationand nursing care, as well as with the services and organisation, with 57.88, 57.54, and 52.2 points, respectively. In general, patients were very satisfied with the health care provided, with a mean score of 83 points. Conclusions: The patients obtained a good quality of life, and they were very satisfied with the health care in general, although there was no relationship between the two. (C) 2016 Instituto Nacional de Cancerologia. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L.U. All rights reserved.