Quality of Care of Oncological Patients With HPN

Tumors and Home Parenteral Nutrition

Medical care for patients with home parenteral nutrition (HPN) is challenging. Among other aspects, the transition from the inpatient to the outpatient setting (discharge management), the organization of HPN at home or in a care facility (care management), the expertise required to care for patients with HPN and consistent compliance with standards are key to the quality of care for patients requiring HPN. Hospital patients on parenteral nutrition (PN) to be continued at home are often discharged at very short notice. A good interlocking of all players is required to collect and distribute the relevant information, to secure proper training for those involved and to have all utilities and equipment at hand when the patient arrives. This study collects nutritional and clinical parameters (including patient-reported parameters) along the continuum of care of HPN patients to evaluate the impact of the quality of care of HPN patients on their quality of life.

The HPN management will be evaluated by using a self-developed patient and a standardized quality of life questionnaire. Patients will be recruited at the participating hospital by their treating physician before discharge and will continue their study participation after discharge. The documentation period for the individual patients will be 3 months. The questions of the patient´s questionnaire cover areas of interest like: satisfaction with discharge management, nutrition, satisfaction with HPN.

Germany