Retrospective Assessment of Objective Prognostic Score in Terminally Ill Korean Patients With Cancer

Yoon, Seok-Joon MD
Jung, Jin-Gyu MD, PhD
Kim, Jong-Sung MD, PhD
Kim, Sung-Soo MD, PhD
Kim, Samyong MD, PhD

¹ Department of Family Medicine, Research Institute for Medical Sciences, Chungnam National University School of Medicine, Daejeon, Korea
² Department of Internal Medicine, Cancer Research Institute, Chungnam National University School of Medicine, Daejeon, Korea

Corresponding Author:

Samyong Kim, MD, PhD, Division of Hemato-Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Chungnam National University Hospital, 282 Munhwa-ro, Jung-gu, Daejeon, Korea.

Email: [email protected]

American Journal of Hospice & Palliative Medicine 31(4):p 435-440, June 2014. | DOI: 10.1177/1049909113492557

Abstract

We conducted a retrospective study by reviewing the medical records of 104 patients to assess the usefulness of the objective prognostic score (OPS) in an independent population of Korea. The median survival time (±standard error) of the high OPS group (≥3) was 9.0 ± 1.31 days and that of the low OPS group (<3) was 26.0 ± 3.3 days. The former was significantly shorter than the latter (P < .001). Only delirium (hazard ratio 1.751, P = .032) was related to shorter survival time independent of the OPS. This study demonstrates that the OPS is a valid and useful prognostic tool for predicting survival in terminally ill Korean patients with cancer, and that inclusion of delirium into the OPS may improve its prognostic value.