[Specialized Outpatient Palliative Care: Results of a Cross-Sectional Study].

Objective: Specialized outpatient palliative care (SAPV) is an important component in the care of people in their final days of life in Germany. The analysis of a representative cohort allows important conclusions to be drawn for improving the situation of people in palliative care in Germany.
Methods: We analyzed the routine data of 2691 palliative patients collected during the care of an SAPV team. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 24.
Results: In SAPV, approximately three-fourths of patients died in their homes. Of the total of 2691 patients, 1972 suffered from a malignancy and 719 patients had a non-malignant, chronic disease. The age at first contact with SAPV was significantly higher in patients without malignancy. Patients with or without malignancy did not differ from each other in terms of quality of life (Karnofsky's score) or symptom frequency. Only disorientation was documented significantly more frequently in non-tumor patients and was also more pronounced.
Conclusion: SAPV enables the fulfilment of the wish of most patients to die in their homes.
Competing Interests: Die Autorinnen/Autoren geben an, dass kein Interessenkonflikt besteht.
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