Relationship between mortality and the laboratory values at admission to palliative care unit in geriatric patients with no diagnosis of malignancy

Introduction: With a global rise in the elderly population, the need for palliative care units (PCU) is also increasing. Moreover, it is important to determine the prognosis in these patients. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate the relationship between mortality and the biomarkers at admission to PCU, in the geriatric patients with no diagnosis of malignancy. Materials and Method: Medical records of the patients hospitalised in the Isparta City Hospital PCU, between 01.03.2017 and 31.03.2018, were retrospectively reviewed. Age, gender, neutrophil, lymphocyte and platelet counts, mean platelet volume and the C-reactive protein and albumin values, at admission to the PCU, were evaluated. Results: The median age of the patients was 81 years (interquartile range: 73–87 years), and 58.5% (n=76) of the patients were female. The mortality rate of the patients was 21.5% (n=28). An albumin value<3.5 g/dL (odds ratio 35.40, 95% confidence interval (CI)=4.86-257.65 and p<0.001) was determined as an independent risk factor. The cut-off for the mean albumin value according to the receiver operating characteristic analysis, performed to predict the mortality rate, was 3.5 g/dL, with sensitivity and specificity values as 89% and 92%, respectively. The positive and negative predictive values and the positive and negative likelihood ratio values were 0.75, 0.96, 11.38 and 0.12, respectively (area under the curve=0.937 and 95% CI=0.880–0.994, p<0.0001). Conclusion: Albumin values may effectively predict the prognosis of geriatric PCU patients, not diagnosed with malignancy.