Atención sanitaria paliativa y de soporte de los equipos de atención primaria en el domicilio

Objectives: To estimate the proportion of people requiring palliative and support care at home in primary care and to describe their characteristics. Methods: A descriptive study was carried out by five Spanish sentinel networks between October 2007 and March 2008 in 282,216 people attended by 218 general practitioners and nurses. Patients receiving comprehensive, active and continued care at home were included if the aim was not to prolong life but to achieve the best quality of life for the patient, the family and the carers. A standard form was used to collect data on age, sex, type of patient, underlying diseases and other variables related to the process. Crude and age-adjusted rates were estimated.