Table 1.
Characteristics of end-of-life populations, place of death and hospital use
| North Somerset (n=1022) (%)* |
Somerset (n=2572) (%)* |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delivering choice | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| N | 213 | 809 | 616 | 1956 |
| Age at death (mean SD) | 79.4 (10.7) | 81.2 (12.8) | 77.3 (12.5) | 82.4 (11.4) |
| Gender male | 109 (51) | 361 (45) | 301 (49) | 864 (44) |
| Deprivation (index of multiple deprivation) | ||||
| Least deprived | 67 (31) | 242 (30) | 94 (15) | 259 (13) |
| Below average deprivation | 63 (30) | 229 (28) | 213 (35) | 631 (32) |
| Average deprivation | 33 (15) | 119 (15) | 178 (29) | 629 (32) |
| Above average deprivation | 10 (5) | 65 (8) | 100 (16) | 345 (18) |
| Most deprived | 37 (17) | 139 (17) | 29 (5) | 80 (4) |
| Not available | 3 (1) | 15 (2) | 2 (0) | 12 (1) |
| Charlson score† | ||||
| Number of individuals | 168 (79) | 506 (63) | 513 (83) | 1321 (68) |
| Weighted score | 4.6 | 3.0 | 5.3 | 2.9 |
| Cause of death | ||||
| Cancer | 145 (68) | 142 (18) | 440 (71) | 314 (16) |
| Heart disease | 15 (7) | 170 (21) | 44 (7) | 430 (22) |
| Cerebrovascular | 9 (4) | 78 (10) | 19 (3) | 218 (11) |
| Respiratory | 14 (7) | 142 (18) | 32 (5) | 308 (16) |
| Dementia | 12 (6) | 145 (18) | 30 (5) | 316 (16) |
| Other | 18 (8) | 132 (16) | 51 (8) | 370 (19) |
| Place of death | ||||
| Acute hospital | 40 (19) | 347 (43) | 84 (14) | 836 (43) |
| Home‡ | 88 (41) | 225 (28) | 337 (54) | 779 (40) |
| Care home (not usual place of residence) | 34 (16) | 116 (14) | 58 (9) | 173 (9) |
| Hospice | 34 (16) | 30 (4) | 98 (16) | 55 (3) |
| Community hospital | N/A | N/A | 31 (5) | 31 (5) |
| Elsewhere | 17 (8) | 91 (11) | 8 (1) | 12 (1) |
| Hospital utilisation | ||||
| Patients with one or more emergency admissions <30 days (SD) | 61 (29) | 335 (41) | 233 (38) | 875 (45) |
| Mean emergency admissions per patient <30 days (SD) [median, min, max] | 0.31 (0.52) [0,0,2] |
0.47 (0.60) [0,0,3] |
0.53 (0.69) [0,0,3] |
0.45 (0.64) [0,0,7] |
| Patients with one or more emergency admission <7 days (SD) | 13 (6) | 179 (22) | 60 (10) | 467 (24) |
| Mean emergency admissions per patient <7 days (SD) [median, min, max] | 0.07 (0.27) [0,0,2] |
0.23 (0.43) [0,0,2] |
0.11 (0.33) [0,0,2] |
0.25 (0.46) [0,0,2] |
| Patients with one or more ED attendance <30 days (SD) | 54 (25) | 363 (36) | 159 (26) | 712 (36) |
| Mean ED attendance per patient <30 days (SD) [median, min, max] | 0.27 (0.50) [0,0,4] |
0.52 (0.64) [0,0,2] |
0.39 (0.51) [0,0,3] |
0.41 (0.60) [0,0,5] |
| Patients with one or more ED attendance <7 days | 13 (6) | 213 (26) | 43 (7) | 432 (22) |
| Mean ED attendance per patient <7 days (SD) [median, min, max] | 0.07 (0.29) [0,0,2] |
0.27 (0.47) [0,0,2] |
0.07 (0.27) [0,0,2] |
0.26 (0.43) [0,0,3] |
*Figure in parentheses refers to percentage unless otherwise indicated.
†Charlson score was calculated for those patients who had a hospital admission.
‡Home includes a care home where this was recorded as usual place of residence.
ED, emergency department; N/A, not applicable.