Table 2. Characteristics of patients dying within 30 days of diagnosis of breast cancer in Scotland; period of diagnosis 2003–2007.

	Cases		Controls
Characteristic	Number	%	Number	%	P-value
Age group					<0.001
<65	35	14.1	10 676	55.7
65–74	49	19.7	4212	22.0
75–79	41	16.5	1614	8.4
80–84	48	19.3	1374	7.2
85+	76	30.5	1284	6.7
SIMD fifth a					0.013
1-Least deprived	28	11.2	3887	20.3
2	55	22.1	4008	20.9
3	60	24.1	4023	21.0
4	57	22.9	3880	20.3
5-Most deprived	49	19.7	3358	17.5
Previous inpatient bed days					<0.001
0	111	44.6	7771	40.6
1–7	48	19.3	6431	33.6
8–28	40	16.1	3408	17.8
29+	50	20.1	1550	8.1
Previous admission for COPD					<0.001
Yes	19	7.6	462	2.4
No	230	92.4	18 698	97.6
Previous alcohol-related admission					0.157
Yes	8	3.2	369	1.9
No	241	96.8	18 791	98.1
Emergency admissions within 30 days of diagnosis date	<0.001
0	77	30.9	17 732	92.5
⩾1	172	69.1	1428	7.5
Microscopically verified					<0.001
Yes	134	53.8	18 943	98.9
No	103	41.4	196	1.0
Not known	12	4.8	21	0.1
Tumour stage					<0.001b
I	14	5.6	6710	35.0
II	10	4.0	7783	40.6
III	8	3.2	1506	7.9
IV	56	22.5	648	3.4
Not known	161	64.7	2513	13.1
Tumour grade					<0.001c
I	3	1.2	2343	12.2
II	23	9.2	7536	39.3
III	23	9.2	6441	33.6
Not known	200	80.3	2840	14.8
ER status					<0.001d
Positive	73	29.3	14 668	76.6
Negative	22	8.8	3024	15.8
Not known	154	61.8	1468	7.7
Any treatment within 30 days of diagnosis	<0.001
Yes	57	22.9	12 880	67.2
No	192	77.1	6280	32.8
Underlying cause of death					0.092
Breast cancer	163	65.5	2350	62.2
Other cancer	10	4.0	298	7.9
Diseases of circulatory system	40	16.1	572	15.1
Diseases of respiratory system	15	6.0	158	4.2
Any other cause	21	8.4	400	10.6
Place of death e					<0.001
NHS acute hospital	179	71.9	1951	51.8
Home	37	14.9	746	19.8
Hospice	7	2.8	477	12.7
Other institution	26	10.4	594	15.8

Abbreviations: COPD=chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; ER=oestrogen receptor; SIMD=Scottish index of multiple deprivation.

^aSIMD not known for four controls.

^bP<0.001 excluding not known category.

^cP=0.222 excluding not known category.

^dP=0.118 excluding not known category.

^ePlace of death not known for 10 controls.