Patients with malignant tributary tumors of palliative care in Placetas municipality

Introduction: early palliative care, in addition to improving the quality of life of patients and their families, reduces unnecessary hospitalizations, inappropriate and ineffective treatments, medical complications and related costs. Objective: to characterize clinically and epidemiologically patients with malignant tributary tumors of palliative care. Method: an observational, descriptive and cross-sectional study was carried out in patients with histological diagnosis of malignant tributary tumors of palliative care at the “Daniel Codorniú Cruna” municipal hospital of Placetas municipality, Villa Clara, between the months of October 2017 and March 2018. Used a universe of 208 patients, selecting a sample of 110. The information obtained was processed using descriptive statistics techniques. Medical ethics was respected. Results: the male sex prevailed (55,5 %) and the ages between 40 and 69 years (47,3 %). The pre-university and secondary school levels (38,2 % and 27,3 %) respectively, as well as toxic smoking habits (31,8 %) and alcohol consumption (19,1 %) were highlighted. The most frequent location of the cancer was lung cancer (20,9 %) where 56,4 % of the patients were in stage IV of the disease. Conclusions: palliative care should be developed and accessible to all cancer patients who require it with the aim of improving the management of symptoms and their quality of life.