Table 4.
Factors associated with Death and Home Discharge in Two Thousand Five Hundred Sixty-Eight APCU Patients by Univariate Analysisa
| 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 |
a
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.
b
Information regarding religion was unavailable for 338 patients.
c
Chemotherapy administered during hospitalization that included an APCU stay.
APCU, acute palliative care unit; MDA, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.