A patient-centered approach to managing anemia in renal palliative care clinic

According to a recent study, a patient-centered approach in anemia management at renal palliative care (PC) has the potential to alleviate symptom burden and decrease the reliance on transfusions. This study's findings were published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management.

This retrospective study was carried out to evaluate the utilization of a patient-centered strategy in the treatment of anemia and symptom management. A total of 158 patients visited the renal PC clinic, with 47 patients being included in the data analysis.

The patients included in the analysis had a mean age of 81.3 (9.5) years and a glomerular filtration rate of 8.6 (5.3) mL/min/1.73 m². Among them, 68.1% were receiving erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) and 44.7% were taking iron supplements. Only 4.3% of patients required transfusion over the past six months. The mean hemoglobin level was 9.8 (1.4) g/dL, with a mean POS-S renal score of 4.7 (3.2). A significant majority of patients (93.6%) reported a satisfactory rating for the "weakness and lack of energy" item.

Therefore, implementing a patient-centric approach in anemia management at renal primary care has the potential to alleviate the burden of symptoms and reduce the dependency on transfusions.