Impact of Palliative Transfusions on Quality of Life in Patients with Blood Cancers Enrolled in Hospice

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE:

I. To assess symptom management and quality of life of patients with hematologic malignancies enrolled in home hospice with and without symptom based palliative transfusions.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To evaluate the total cost of providing home-based palliative transfusions through hospice.

II. To identify transfusion related complications associated with these transfusions.

III. To evaluate average transfusion rate with symptom based transfusions.

IV. To assess average duration of hospice stay with and without transfusions.

V. To assess revocation of hospice services along with reasons for revocation.

VI. To identify site of death (home versus [vs] hospital intensive care unit [ICU] or inpatient).

VII. To assess number and cost of hospitalizations in these patients (including number and cost of emergency room [ER] visits, inpatient and ICU stays).

OUTLINE:

Patients participate in a telemedicine interview at the start of every week (Monday or Tuesday) for symptom assessment. Patients then receive one unit each of blood and/or platelet transfusion once weekly (QW) based on trigger symptoms (Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events [CTCAE] grade 2 or greater) of anemia and/or thrombocytopenia in the absence of unacceptable toxicity.

After completion of study, patients are followed up periodically.