Desarrollo del consenso de recomendaciones de Cuidados Paliativos durante la pandemia por COVID-19 en Ecuador

Title: Development of the consensus of Palliative Care recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ecuador. Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic opened the door to multidisciplinary work from various health-related areas to benefit institutions, health workers, patients, and their families. In addition, the joint effort from researchers and service providers was evidenced worldwide through scientific publications, reflections, and evidence on the progress to stop the spread of the virus. Objectives: This article seeks to present the work carried out by the Ecuadorian Association of Palliative Care as a contribution to the Emergency Operations Committee and the Ecuadorian Ministry of Public Health. We show the development of a guide of recommendations for Palliative Care during the COVID-19 pandemic through an evidence-based multidisciplinary consensus. Materials and methods: A consensus was reached using the Delphi method, with a large panel of experts. Two consecutive rounds were made on a structured survey, built and presented on an online platform. Results and conclusions: 11 topics and 19 PICO questions were asked. The criteria for completion of the round were median ≥ 7 or ≤ 3, IQR ≤ 0.40, and Interquartile deviation < 0.5. These criteria were obtained in all the questions posed. The document with the recommendations was published on the Ministry of Health website.