Table 3.
Age Group Comparisons of End-of-Life Care (n = 396)
| |
Unadjusted descriptive statistics |
Adjusted group comparisons† |
||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Postmortem variables | Total sample n = 396 | Older aged (≥65) n = 126 | Middle-aged (45–64) n = 214 | Younger aged (20–44) n = 56 | Older aged vs middle-aged | Middle-aged vs younger aged | Older aged vs younger aged | |||||||
| Life-Prolonging Treatment | n | % | n | % | n | % | n | % | OR | (CI) | OR | (CI) | OR | (CI) |
| ICU | 37 | (9.4) | 9 | (7.2) | 20 | (9.4) | 8 | (14.3) | 0.81 | (0.35-1.88) | 0.57 | (0.23-1.42) | 0.29 | (0.09-0.92) |
| Ventilator | 28 | (7.1) | 5 | (4.0) | 17 | (8.0) | 6 | (10.7) | 0.51 | (0.18-1.43) | 0.72 | (0.27-1.93) | 0.27 | (0.07-1.00) |
| Chemotherapy | 25 | (6.3) | 8 | (6.4) | 14 | (6.5) | 3 | (5.4) | 0.51 | (0.18-1.46) | 1.46 | (0.40-5.40) | 1.20 | (0.31-4.69) |
| Feeding tube | 31 | (7.9) | 10 | (8.0) | 13 | (6.1) | 8 | (14.6) | 1.33 | (0.57-3.13) | 0.38 | (0.15-0.98) | 0.51 | (0.19-1.37) |
| Resuscitation | 31 | (4.1) | 1 | (0.8) | 10 | (4.7) | 5 | (8.9) | 0.16 | (0.02-1.29) | 0.50 | (0.17-1.54) | 0.08 | (0.01-0.72) |
| Location of Death | ||||||||||||||
| ICU | 28 | (7.1) | 5 | (4.0) | 15 | (7.0) | 8 | (14.3) | 0.59 | (0.20-1.71) | 0.41 | (0.16-1.07) | 0.20 | (0.06-0.70) |
| Hospital | 86 | (21.7) | 22 | (17.5) | 48 | (22.4) | 16 | (28.6) | 0.72 | (0.40-1.27) | 0.70 | (0.35-1.37) | 0.53 | (0.25-1.11) |
| Home | 219 | (55.3) | 71 | (56.4) | 119 | (55.6) | 29 | (51.8) | 1.00 | (0.61-1.65) | 1.37 | (0.73-2.57) | 1.24 | (0.60-2.57) |
| Nursing Home | 16 | (4.0) | 7 | (5.6) | 9 | (4.2) | 0 | (0.0) | 1.59 | (0.55-4.62) | ----- | ------------- | ----- | ------------- |
| Hospice | 47 | (11.9) | 21 | (16.7) | 23 | (10.8) | 3 | (5.4) | 1.45 | (0.72-2.92) | 2.03 | (0.53-7.76) | 4.09 | (0.91-18.33) |
| Survival* | mdn | (Q1-Q3) | mdn | (Q1-Q3) | mdn | (Q1-Q3) | mdn | (Q1-Q3) | HR | (CI) | (CI) | HR | HR | (CI) |
| Survival time (in days) | 146 | (62-312) | 125 | (68-297) | 157 | (61-313) | 143 | (60-347) | 0.88 | (0.68-1.15) | 1.07 | (0.78-1.49) | 0.74 | (0.50-1.08) |
ICU -Intensive Care Unit; EOL-End of Life; Pt-Patient; psych-psychological; mdn-Median Q1 -Lower Quartile (25%); Q3 -Upper Quartile (75%); HR-Hazard Ratio.
All values in bold are at least p < .05.
*
Survival time was measured from the baseline assessment of advanced cancer patients with a 6 month prognosis.
†
Adjustments were made by running all Table 1 variables as possible confounders using backwards selection.