Table 4.
Cox Regression Multivariate Analysis for Survival from Palliative Care Consultationa
| Hazard ratio (95% confidence interval) |
P-value | |
|---|---|---|
| Cancer diagnosis | 0.05 | |
| Breast | 0.52 (0.26-1.06) | 0.07 |
| Gastrointestinal | 1.0 | Reference |
| Genitourinary | 0.87 (0.48-1.59) | 0.65 |
| Gynecologic | 0.94 (0.43-2.06) | 0.88 |
| Head and neck | 0.66 (0.31-1.39) | 0.27 |
| Lung | 0.60 (0.15-2.47) | 0.48 |
| Othersb | 0.43 (0.26-0.71) | 0.001 |
| Performance status | 1.17 (0.98-1.40) | 0.09 |
Variables included in this model were age, sex, race, cancer diagnosis, stage, referring team, performance status at presentation, number of medical oncology visits before palliative care consultation, and number of chemotherapy courses before palliative care consultation. Since this model aimed to identify factors that affect the timing of referral rather than factors that confer a poor prognosis, we specifically excluded symptoms from the analysis as some are known to be prognostic factors (e.g. delirium and dyspnea) that could potentially confound this analysis.
Include all cancer types other than breast, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, gynecologyic, and head and neck cancers. Examples included sarcoma, neurologic, and endocrine tumors.