Outcomes of Palliative Care and Caregiver Satisfaction in a Palliative Care Ward at Phetchabun Hospital

Abstract

This study aimed to describe the clinical characteristics and outcomes of palliative care, assess changes in pain scores among end-of-life patients, and evaluate caregiver satisfaction with palliative care services at Phetchabun Hospital. A retrospective study was conducted among 168 end-of-life patients admitted between July 1 and December 31, 2025, and 40 key caregivers. Data on clinical characteristics, symptom management, family meetings, advance care planning (ACP), pain scores, length of hospital stay, and discharge outcomes were collected and analyzed using descriptive statistics, paired t-test, and independent t-test. The mean patient age was 65.4 years; 54.2% were male and 55.4% had non-cancer diagnoses. All patients received morphine and participated in family meetings with ACP (100.0%), while 13.1% received midazolam. In-hospital mortality was 64.3%, and the mean length of stay was 5.4 days. The mean pain score decreased significantly from 6.4 at admission to 6.1 before discharge or death (p=0.01). A significant reduction was observed among patients with cancer, but not among those with non-cancer diagnoses. Caregiver satisfaction was very high overall (mean=4.6, S.D.=0.4), with information provision and communication receiving the highest score (mean=4.7, S.D.=0.4). The findings indicate that the palliative care ward provided comprehensive care and was associated with reduced pain and high caregiver satisfaction, providing useful information for further service development.