• Javier Rocafort Gil, Emilio Herrera Molina, Félix Fernández Bermejo, María Eulalia Grajera Paredes María, María José Redondo Moralo, Fátima Díaz Díez, José Armando Espinosa Rojas, and Grupo de Investigacion en Cuidados Paliativos de Extremadura (IPALEX).
• Programa Regional de Cuidados Paliativos, Servicio Extremeño de Salud, Mérida, Badajoz, Spain.
• Aten Primaria. 2006 Oct 15; 38 (6): 316-23.

ObjectiveTo find out if the activity of palliative care support teams (PCST) does not negatively influences the performance of the primary care "care of terminally ill patients" service.ParticipantsTerminally ill patients cared for at home.DesignMulticentre observational study.Main MeasurementsThe observed variable is the increase in the number of registered patients in primary care, and the number of patients covered between the years 2002 and 2003 and the 4 intervention variables are: total visits, joint visits, assessments, and teaching sessions.ResultsThe number of patients covered in 2002 was 41.19%, increasing to 45.44% in 2003. The activity rate of the PCST for each 100 000 inhabitants was 526 home visits in 2003, 86.15 joint visits, 313.68 professional assessments, and 23.14 teaching sessions. The joint visits and the teaching sessions were strongly associated with an improvement in the coverage of primary care (Pearson correlation of 0.784 and 0.759, respectively). The total visits were moderately associated (0.525) and the assessments were weakly associated (0.245).ConclusionsJoint visits and teaching sessions of a PCST are associated to an increase in the activity of primary care teams. Assessments and total visits did not have a negative influence.

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