Table 4.
Alive (n = 1653) | Dead (n = 915) | p value | Non-home (n = 2164) | Home (n = 404) | p value | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Median age (range) | 59 (19–101) | 59 (18–96) | 0.70 | 60 (18–101) | 55 (20–89) | <0.001 |
Gender | ||||||
Female | 850 (67.7%) | 405 (32.3%) | 0.001 | 1048 (83.5%) | 207 (16.5%) | 0.30 |
Male | 803 (61.2%) | 510 (38.8%) | 1116 (85.0%) | 197 (15.0%) | ||
Race | ||||||
White | 1092 (63.6%) | 625 (36.4%) | 0.71 | 1461 (85.1%) | 256 (14.9%) | 0.28 |
Black | 275 (66.1%) | 141 (33.9%) | 343 (82.5%) | 73 (17.5%) | ||
Hispanic | 202 (66.0%) | 104 (34.0%) | 257 (84.0%) | 49 (16.0%) | ||
Others | 84 (65.1%) | 45 (34.9%) | 103 (79.8%) | 26 (20.2%) | ||
Religionb | ||||||
Christian | 1344 (64.2%) | 751 (35.8%) | 0.95 | 1773 (84.6%) | 322 (15.4%) | 0.096 |
Non-Christian | 87 (64.4%) | 48 (35.6%) | 107 (79.3%) | 28 (20.7%) | ||
Cancer types | ||||||
Breast | 142 (68.9%) | 64 (31.1%) | <0.001 | 173 (84.0%) | 33 (16.0%) | 0.034 |
Neurologic | 18 (81.8%) | 4 (18.2%) | 20 (90.9%) | 2 (9.1%) | ||
Dermatologic | 59 (60.2%) | 39 (38.9%) | 86 (87.8%) | 12 (12.2%) | ||
Endocrine | 11 (50.0%) | 11 (50.0%) | 18 (81.8%) | 4 (18.2%) | ||
Gastrointestinal | 334 (66.0%) | 172 (34.0%) | 423 (83.6%) | 83 (16.4%) | ||
Genitourinary | 178 (66.9%) | 88 (33.1%) | 226 (85.0%) | 40 (15.0%) | ||
Gynecologic | 169 (78.2%) | 47 (21.8%) | 171 (79.2%) | 45 (20.8%) | ||
Head and neck | 113 (74.3%) | 39 (25.7%) | 118 (77.6%) | 34 (22.4%) | ||
Hematologic | 126 (43.2%) | 166 (56.8%) | 264 (90.4%) | 28 (9.6%) | ||
Sarcoma | 73 (69.5%) | 32 (30.5%) | 86 (81.9%) | 19 (18.1%) | ||
Unknown primary | 57 (62.6%) | 34 (37.4%) | 80 (87.9%) | 11 (12.1%) | ||
Respiratory | 373 (63.0%) | 219 (37.0%) | 499 (84.3%) | 93 (15.7%) | ||
Chemotherapy agentsc | ||||||
Given | 158 (53.9%) | 135 (46.1%) | <0.001 | 250 (85.3%) | 43 (14.7%) | 0.60 |
Not given | 1495 (65.7%) | 780 (34.3%) | 1914 (84.1%) | 361 (15.9%) | ||
Admission type | ||||||
Direct APCU admission | 579 (79.5%) | 149 (20.5%) | <0.001 | 511 (70.2%) | 217 (29.8%) | <0.001 |
Oncology unit transfers | 1074 (58.4%) | 766 (41.6%) | 1653 (89.8%) | 187 (10.2%) | ||
Year of admission | ||||||
2003 | 311 (64.3%) | 173 (35.7%) | 0.94 | 401 (82.9%) | 83 (17.1%) | 0.36 |
2004 | 358 (63.9%) | 202 (36.1%) | 480 (85.7%) | 80 (14.3%) | ||
2005 | 343 (66.0%) | 177 (34.0%) | 431 (82.9%) | 89 (17.1%) | ||
2006 | 325 (64.2%) | 181 (35.8%) | 437 (86.4%) | 69 (13.6%) | ||
2007 | 316 (63.5%) | 182 (36.5%) | 415 (83.3%) | 83 (16.7%) | ||
Median MDA admission length (Q1–Q3) | 12 (8–17) | 11 (7–17) | 0.058 | 12 (8–18) | 9 (6–14) | <0.001 |
Median APCU admission length (Q1–Q3) | 8 (6–10) | 5 (3–8) | <0.001 | 7 (4–10) | 7 (5–9) | 0.61 |
Comparisons were made between patients who died in the APCU and those discharged alive, and also between patients who were discharged home and those who died or transferred to hospices/other institutions; the χ2 test was used for categorical variables; Student's t test for age; and Mann-Whitney test was used for median hospital admission and APCU admission lengths.
Information regarding religion was unavailable for 338 patients.
Chemotherapy administered during hospitalization that included an APCU stay.
APCU, acute palliative care unit; MDA, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.