Performance Status in Palliative Care - FM Flashcards
What is prognostication in palliative care?
Prognostication is the ability to predict future clinical events based on present signs and indications.
Why is prognostication important for patients with cancer?
It helps them prepare for the future, make decisions about treatment and finances, and express their wishes.
What is performance status in palliative care?
Performance status refers to a patient’s ability to perform daily activities, which helps predict survival and treatment options.
What are the key benefits of assessing performance status in palliative care?
It helps in survival prediction, treatment planning, and setting realistic expectations for patients and families.
How does a patient’s ability to perform basic tasks relate to prognosis?
Patients with lower functional ability generally have a shorter survival expectancy.
What are the key factors influencing clinical prediction of survival?
Duration of illness, functional decline, and disease progression.
How does the duration of the doctor-patient relationship affect survival prediction?
A longer doctor-patient relationship is associated with decreased accuracy in survival prediction.
What are the main parameters for assessing performance status?
Ambulation, activity level, self-care, oral intake, consciousness, hospitalization, and prediction of death.
Why is ambulation an important factor in performance status assessment?
It indicates mobility and physical independence, which are strong predictors of survival.
How does self-care ability influence prognosis in palliative care?
Patients who require assistance with self-care generally have a poorer prognosis.
What is the significance of oral intake assessment in palliative care?
Reduced oral intake suggests worsening condition and approaching end of life.
How does the level of consciousness affect performance status?
Decreased consciousness level is associated with declining health and poorer outcomes.
What is the impact of hospitalization on prognosis in palliative care?
Frequent or prolonged hospitalization suggests disease progression and poor prognosis.
What are the common prognostic tools used in palliative care?
Palliative Performance Scale (PPS), Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG), Karnofsky Performance Score (KPS).
What is the Palliative Performance Scale (PPS)?
A scale that measures a patient’s functional ability and correlates it with survival prediction.
What is the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) Performance Status?
A performance scale ranging from 0 (fully active) to 5 (dead), used to assess cancer patients.
What is the Karnofsky Performance Score (KPS)?
A 0-100 scale that measures functional impairment, with lower scores indicating worse prognosis.
How do performance status scales help in advance care planning?
It helps patients and families make informed decisions about future medical and personal care.
Why do patients and families seek information about life expectancy in palliative care?
To help plan realistically and ensure proper end-of-life care.
How does performance status influence treatment decisions?
Lower performance status may lead to withdrawal of aggressive treatments in favour of palliative care.
What are the key considerations for a patient in end-of-life care?
Ensuring comfort, dignity, pain management, and fulfilling personal wishes.
How does performance status help in predicting death?
It provides an estimate of how close a patient is to the end of life.
What are the limitations of clinical prediction of survival?
Survival predictions are not always accurate due to individual variations in disease progression.
Why is maintaining autonomy important for palliative patients?
Maintaining control over treatment decisions and quality of life is essential for dignity.
