OBJECTIVE:

To describe the sociodemographic profile of patients in palliative care at an oncology referral hospital in Pará State, Brazil.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

A retrospective, descriptive, and cross-sectional study was carried out by analyzing 239 medical records of inpatients at the Oncology Palliative Care Clinic of Hospital Ophir Loyola from 2010 to 2014.

RESULTS:

The majority of the patients were females (59.41%), over 60 years of age (38.91%), from the Metropolitan Region of Belém (46.44%), with "housewife" occupation (27.62%), married or in a stable union (51.05%), Catholic religion (34.73%), and low levels of schooling (38.91% of them had incomplete elementary school). There was a prevalence of patients with history of smoking (56.90%) and alcohol consumption (53.56%), with no family history of cancer (41.00%), and hospitalization due to emergency situations (93.72%).

CONCLUSION:

The profile of these patients allows a better understanding of their characteristics, helping the multidisciplinary team of palliative care clinic in assistance planning, as well as contributing significantly to preventive health policies be implemented in Pará.

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