Objective: The use of chemotherapy near the end of life is not advisable. There are scarce data in Europe but shows signs of aggressiveness. We designed this study to analyze the proportion of onco–hematological patients receiving chemotherapy within their last 2 weeks of life as well as starting a new chemotherapy regimen in the 30 days prior to death. Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted in a tertiary hospital. Adults who died of an onco-hematological neoplasia while hospitalized between April 2017 and March 2018 were included. We assessed the use of chemotherapy over the course of the last 14 days of life, defined as the administration of at least one dose of chemotherapy. We also examined the proportion of patients starting a new chemotherapy regimen in the last 30 days of life. Results: A total of 298 inpatients died in the Hematology and Oncology units. During the last 14 days, 28.2% (n = 11) of hematological and 26.3% (n = 68) of oncological patients received chemotherapy; the overall rate was 26.5% (n = 79). Furthermore, the proportion of patients starting a new chemotherapy regimen in the last 30 days of life was high (20.5% and 20.8%, respectively). Female gender (odds ratio [OR] = 1.99, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.18-3.35) and age <45 (OR = 2.68, 95% CI = 1.05-6.88) were associated with higher rates of chemotherapy. Conclusion: The proportion of patients receiving chemotherapy in the last 14 days of life was high, as well as the proportion of patients starting a new regimen in their last 30 days. This was indicative of excessive aggressiveness at the end-of-life care.

Purpose To conduct a Health Care Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (HFMEA) of the chemotherapy preparation process to identify the steps with the potential to cause errors, and to develop further strategies to improve the process and thus minimize the risk of errors. Methods An HFMEA was conducted to identify and reduce preparation errors during the chemotherapy preparation process. A multidisciplinary team mapped the preparation process, formally identified all the steps, and then conducted a brainstorming session to determine potential failure modes and their potential effects. A severity and probability score for each failure mode, a hazard score (HS) and a total HS were calculated. A hazard analysis was conducted for each HS equal to or more than 8. Finally, an action plan was identified for each failure mode. After the action plan was implemented, failure modes were revaluated and a new HS score was calculated as well as the percentage decrease in risk. Results The team identified five main steps in the chemotherapy preparation process and nine potential failure modes. After implementing the control measures, all the HSs decreased. The total HS associated with the chemotherapy preparation process decreased from 54 to 26 (-52%). This reduction in the total HS was mainly achieved by updating the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and implementing bar code and gravimetric control system. Conclusion The application of HFMEA to the chemotherapy preparation process in centralized chemotherapy units can be very useful in identifying actions aimed at reducing errors in the healthcare setting.

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