Palliative Care in Brazil: With a View to Future Needs?

Background: Chronic non-communicable diseases (CNCD) constitute a health problem of growing magnitude in Brazil, leading concerns, to the Ministry of Health (MOH), about the care of persons with chronic conditions (due to advanced diseases), multiple harms to health, convalescents and in need of long-term care, requiring continuous assistance, physical and functional rehabilitation. However, few data exist on the size of the population potentially in need of palliative care in Brazil. Aim: this study is to estimate the size of the Brazilian population that could benefit from palliative care across 26 federated states and the Federal District. Design: this is a cross-sectional study, using national death certificate and hospital admission data. Brazilian death registration and hospital admission data from 1st of January to 31st of December 2014 were analyzed and compared with estimation methods of Rosenwax and Murtagh. Setting/participants: all adults (≥ 15 years old) who died in the period of 1st of January to 31st of December 2014 in Brazil. Results: the proportion of individuals who died from diseases that indicate palliative care needs at the end of life ranged from 24.6% to 85.2%.   Keywords: palliative care; estimating population; chronic non-communicable diseases; cancer; health planning.