Identification of Patients With Advanced Chronic Diseases in Need of Palliative Care

This is a prospective, observational, analytical study designed to identify patients with advanced chronic conditions who have palliative care needs, using the NECPAL screening tool.

The study will be conducted in hospitalized patients admitted for an acute medical condition and in patients attending a day hospital. Adult patients with at least one advanced chronic oncological or non-oncological disease will be consecutively assessed during routine clinical care.

The NECPAL tool will be applied by trained investigators following the standardized methodology recommended by its developers. The assessment begins with the Surprise Question ("Would you be surprised if this patient died within the next 12 months?"). If the answer is negative, additional clinical indicators related to disease severity, functional decline, comorbidity, symptom burden, and health care utilization are evaluated. Patients will be classified as NECPAL positive or NECPAL negative according to predefined criteria.

For patients identified as NECPAL positive, information regarding current palliative care involvement will be recorded. Clinical, functional, social, and health care utilization variables will be collected from the electronic medical record as part of routine clinical documentation.

Secondary analyses will compare NECPAL-positive and NECPAL-negative patients in terms of comorbidity, functional status, and mortality. Mortality will be assessed during follow-up using hospital records and, when necessary, telephone contact.

The study aims to describe the prevalence of palliative care needs in patients with advanced chronic diseases, evaluate the alignment between identified needs and current palliative care provision, and support early identification of patients who may benefit from palliative care in hospital settings.

Inclusion criteria

• Adults aged 18 years or older.
• Hospitalized patients admitted for an acute medical condition or patients attending a day hospital.
• Presence of at least one advanced chronic oncological or non-oncological disease.
• Ability to provide informed consent or availability of a legally authorized representative to provide consent.

Exclusion criteria

• Patients in the last days of life at the time of assessment.
• Patients who die during the acute hospitalization process.
• Patients with end-stage organ failure who are listed for organ transplantation.
• Patients with severe psychiatric disease that interferes with study participation.
• Patients previously included in the study during a prior hospital admission.
• Patients for whom outpatient follow-up cannot be ensured.