Comparison of Simplified Palliative Prognostic Index and Palliative Performance Scale in Patients with Advanced Cancer in a Home Palliative Care Setting

• Published in: Journal of palliative care Vol. 39; no. 3; pp. 194 - 201
• Main Authors: Hiratsuka, Yusuke, Suh, Sang-Yeon, Yoon, Seok Joon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01-07-2024; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Cancer; Cohort Studies; Female; Home Care Services - standards; Home Care Services - statistics & numerical data; Home health care; Humans; Male; Medical prognosis; Medical records; Middle Aged; Neoplasms - therapy; Palliative care; Palliative Care - standards; Palliative Care - statistics & numerical data; Prognosis; Prospective Studies; Questionnaires; Republic of Korea; Terminal illnesses; Republic of Korea; South Korea; nurse; home care; palliative care; prognosis; survival
• ISSN: 0825-8597; 2369-5293
• DOI: 10.1177/08258597231214896

Objective: The Palliative Performance Scale (PPS) has been reported to be as accurate as Palliative Prognostic Index (PPI). PPS is a component of the simplified PPI (sPPI). It is unknown whether PPS is as accurate as sPPI. This study aimed to compare the prognostic performance of the PPS and sPPI in patients with advanced cancer in a home palliative care setting in South Korea. Methods: This was a secondary analysis of a prospective cohort study that included Korean patients with advanced cancer who received home-based palliative care. We used the medical records maintained by specialized palliative care nurses. We computed the prognostic performance of PPS and sPPI using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) and calibration plots for the 3- and 6-week survival. Results: A total of 80 patients were included, with a median overall survival of 47.0 days. The AUROCs of PPS were 0.71 and 0.69 at the 3- and 6-week survival predictions, respectively. The AUROCs of sPPI were 0.87 and 0.73 at the 3- and 6-week survival predictions, respectively. The calibration plot demonstrated satisfactory agreement across all score ranges for both the PPS and sPPI. Conclusions: This study showed that the sPPI assessed by nurses was more accurate than the PPS in a home palliative care setting in predicting the 3-week survival in patients with advanced cancer. The PPS can be used for a quick assessment.