Table 1.
Characteristics of the study population, comparing the palliative and the non-palliative group.
| Palliative group | Non-palliative group | ||||
|
Included N = 43 (19)# |
Excluded N = 36 (16) |
Included N = 117 (53) |
Excluded N = 26 (12) |
All patients N = 222* |
|
| Gender | |||||
| Female | 16 (37.2) | 16 (44.4) | 61 (52.1) | 11 (42.3) | 104 (46.8) |
| Male | 27 (62.7) | 20 (55.6) | 56 (47.9) | 15 (57.7) | 118 (53.1) |
| Age groups | |||||
| Age < 31 | - | - | 13 (11.1) | 3 (11.5) | 16 (7.2) |
| Age 31–40 | 1 (2.3) | - | 12 (10.3) | 4 (15.4) | 17 (7.7) |
| Age 41–50 | 2 (4.7) | - | 17 (14.5) | 2 (7.7) | 21 (9.5) |
| Age 51–60 | 1 (2.3) | - | 23 (19.7) | 4 (15.4) | 28 (12.6) |
| Age 61–70 | 9 (20.9) | 2 (5.6) | 20 (17.1) | 6 (23.1) | 37 (16.7) |
| Age 71–80 | 19 (44.2) | 10 (27.8) | 23 (19.7) | 4 (17.4) | 56 (25.2) |
| Age 81–90 | 9 (20.9) | 18 (50.0) | 7 (6.0) | 3 (11.5) | 37 (16.7) |
| Age > 91 | 2 (4.7) | 6 (16.7) | 2 (1.7) | - | 10 (4.5) |
| Number of diagnoses | |||||
| One diagnosis | 12 (27.9) | 11 (30.6) | 62 (53.0) | 15 (57.7) | 100 (45.0) |
| Two diagnoses | 15 (34.9) | 12 (33.3) | 36 (30.8) | 7 (27.0) | 70 (31.5) |
| Three diagnoses | 16 (37.2) | 13 (36.1) | 19 (16.2) | 4 (15.4) | 52 (23.4) |
| Diagnosis | |||||
| Renal failure | 3 (6.9) | 1 (2.8) | 6 (5.2) | 3 (11.5) | 13 (5.9) |
| COPD | 14 (32.6) | 5 (13.9) | 13 (11.1) | 1 (3.8) | 33 (14.9) |
| Heart and vascular diseases | 21 (48.9) | 15 (41.7) | 31 (26.5) | 6 (23.1) | 73 (32.9) |
| Cancer | 16 (37.2) | 3 (8.3) | 13 (11.1) | 2 (7.7) | 34 (15.3) |
| Mean days in hospital | 10.6 | 11.5 | 8.8 | 11.8 | 9.9 |
# Percentages are given in brackets. Percentages given in the column headings and the column to the far right relate to the total number of patients (222), while percentages given for each of the four subgroups relate to the number of patients within that group.
*232 patients were recorded as inpatients on the day of the study. Ten patients were not asked to participate due to circumstances on their ward.