Table 1.
Characteristics of Patients by Racial Category
| Characteristic | Overall n=4658 (%) | White n=2022 (43.4%) | Asian n=1601 (34.4%) | Hawaiian/Islander n=820 (17.6%) | Other racea n=215 (4.6%) | p value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age <65 years | 2955 (63.5) | 1369 (67.7b) | 780 (48.8) | 651 (79.4) | 155 (72.1) | <0.0001 |
| Age 65–74 years | 822 (17.7) | 344 (17.0) | 318 (19.9) | 125 (15.2) | 35 (16.3) | |
| Age 75 years and older | 880 (18.9) | 309 (15.3) | 502 (31.4) | 44 (5.4) | 25 (11.6) | |
| Male gender | 2390 (51.3) | 1042 (51.6) | 781 (48.8) | 442 (53.9) | 125 (58.1) | 0.02 |
| Female gender | 2267 (48.7) | 979 (48.4) | 820 (51.2) | 378 (46.1) | 90 (41.9) | |
| Consultation diagnosis | ||||||
| Cancer | 1255 (25.9) | 365 (18.1) | 560 (35.0) | 275 (33.5) | 55 (25.6) | <0.0001 |
| Surgicalc | 2163 (46.4) | 1093 (54.1) | 677 (42.3) | 295 (36.0) | 98 (45.6) | |
| Noncancer Medicald | 528 (11.3) | 218 (10.8) | 160 (10.0) | 122 (14.9) | 28 (13.0) | |
| Other Diagnosise | 712 (15.3) | 346 (17.1) | 204 (12.7) | 128 (15.6) | 34 (15.8) | |
| Mean Karnofsky score | 58.0±25.3 | 61.8±23.6 | 54.8±26.6 | 54.3±25.2 | 60.4±25.3 | <0.0001 |
| Preconsult LOSf | 5.8±16.5 | 4.7±12.4 | 6.7±21.4 | 7.2±15.4 | 4.8±10.4 | <0.0001 |
| Initial pain severity | ||||||
| None | 584 (13.3) | 158 (8.2) | 294 (19.8) | 103 (13.3) | 29 (14.2) | <0.0001 |
| Mild | 987 (22.5) | 429 (22.4) | 376 (25.3) | 142 (18.3) | 40 (19.6) | |
| Moderate | 1529 (34.9) | 708 (36.9) | 459 (30.9) | 289 (37.2) | 73 (35.8) | |
| Severe | 1282 (29.3) | 622 (32.5) | 355 (23.9) | 243 (31.3) | 62 (30.4) | |
| Final pain severity | ||||||
| None | 1216 (33.0) | 439 (26.5) | 480 (39.0) | 243 (38.5) | 54 (32.5) | <0.0001 |
| Mild | 1808 (49.0) | 845 (51.0) | 590 (47.9) | 296 (46.8) | 77 (46.4) | |
| Moderate | 574 (15.6) | 320 (19.3) | 139 (11.3) | 83 (13.1) | 32 (19.3) | |
| Severe | 90 (2.4) | 54 (3.3) | 23 (1.9) | 10 (1.6) | 3 (1.8) | |
| Pain reducedg | 1738 (75.4) | 796 (71.5) | 518 (78.7) | 349 (81.4) | 75 (72.8) | <0.0001 |
Other race group: African American (n=60, 1.3%), other races (other American/Native, cosmopolitan, unknown, Middle Eastern, declined, n=39, 0.7%), and missing race (n=116, 2.6%, including patients who reported Hispanic ethnicity but did not report race (n=90, 2.0%).
Column percentages shown for racial groups.
Surgical group: orthopedic (n=1277, 27.4%), trauma (n=268, 5.8%), surgery (n=575, 12.3%), gynecologic (n=19, n=0.4%) and urologic (n=24, 0.5%).
Noncancer medical diagnoses included heart (n=224, 4.8%), liver (n=29, 0.6%), stroke/coma (n=30, 0.6%), kidney (n=49, 1.1%), lung (n=152, 3.3%), dementia (n=14, 0.3%), diabetes (n=12, 0.3%), and HIV/AIDS (n=18, 0.4%).
Other diagnoses included psychiatric (n=16, 0.3%) and other diagnoses not listed (n=696, 14.9%).
Length of stay (LOS) in the hospital prior to palliative care consultation, in mean number of days.
Pain reduced among 2304 patients with initial pain moderate or severe, to final pain mild or moderate.