Lal, MRaheja, SKale, SDas, NGogia, A RBhowmik, K T2013-01-222013-01-222012-07Lal M, Raheja S, Kale S, Das N, Gogia A R, Bhowmik K T. An experience with 156 patients attending a newly organized pain and palliative care clinic in a tertiary hospital. Indian Journal of Cancer. 2012 Jul-Sept; 49(3): 293-297.http://imsear.searo.who.int/handle/123456789/144589Context: Pain and palliative care clinic (PCC). Aims: The primary object of this study was to enumerate the demographic characteristics of patients attending a newly organized PCC. The secondary purpose was to detect symptom prevalence and frequency of different cancers in these patients. Settings and Design: Prospective cross-sectional descriptive study. Materials and Methods: A prospective cross-sectional descriptive study was done on patients referred to the PCC of a tertiary hospital in North India. Comprehensive details of all patients were recorded systematically on the first visit on a proforma specially prepared for the newly established palliative care clinic. Statistical Analysis Used: The descriptive statistics of palliative care data was presented in terms of frequencies and percentages (%) for categorical variables. Results: The data collected at our PCC showed that out of 156 patients, 87 were males and 69 were females. Patients of all ages varying from 6 to 85 years were seen. Most patients (82.1%) lived with their families, and 28 (17.1%) patients lived alone and had no financial support. The most common primary diagnoses were head and neck cancers (38.5%), carcinoma cervix (15.4%), breast cancer (10.3%), colorectal cancer (6.4%), and lung cancer (4.5%). Frequency of seven most common symptoms was pain (100%), insomnia (64.1%), loss of appetite (34.6%), nausea (32.7%), vomiting (32.1%), constipation (31.4%) and sore mouth (28.8%). Conclusions: Population-based studies determine the actual magnitude of sufferers and suffering and show that palliative care services should be included as an essential component in a tertiary care hospital. The objective should be to reach out to the patient and help in improving the patent's quality of life in every way possible.enDiagnosespalliative caresymptomsBreast Neoplasms --diagnosisBreast Neoplasms --therapyColorectal Neoplasms --diagnosisColorectal Neoplasms --therapyFemaleHead and Neck Neoplasms --diagnosisHead and Neck Neoplasms --therapyHumansLung Neoplasms --drug therapyLung Neoplasms --therapyMalePain ClinicsPalliative Care --methodsPatientsSigns and SymptomsTertiary Care CentersUterine Cervical Neoplasms --diagnosisUterine Cervical Neoplasms --therapyArticle