Abstract: Objective: To investigate the current status and influencing factors of palliative care needs among the elderly with chronic diseases in community settings. Methods: This cross-sectional study enrolled a total of 302 elderly patients with chronic diseases by convenience sampling from February 2022 to March 2022 in Changsha. The general data questionnaire and the Chinese version of palliative care screening tool were used for investigation. Logistic regression were used to analyze the influencing factors. Results: The results showed that 17.9% of the participants were in need of palliative care. According to logistic regression analysis, longer illness duration (OR=1.461, 95%CI: 1.017-2.099), lower self-care ability (OR=3.265, 95%CI: 1.189-8.964), and poorer self-rated health (OR=3.622, 95%CI: 1.871-7.009) were independent risk factors for palliative care needs. Conclusion: The palliative care needs of the elderly with chronic diseases is lower than the middle level, and the main influencing factors are their illness duration, self-care ability and self-rated health. Primary health workers can screen the unmet palliative care needs for the elderly with chronic diseases in the community, and provide timely palliative care services to improve their life quality.

Key words: palliative care; the elderly; chronic diseases; influencing factor