Table 1.
Demographic characteristics.
| All Patients (N=80,514) | No palliative care encounter (N=76,485) | Palliative care encounter (N=4,029) | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary Site | 0.0220 | |||
| Oral Cavity | 22.9% | 22.6% | 27.3% | |
| Larynx | 30.6% | 30.8% | 27.1% | |
| Hypopharynx | 7.4% | 7.4% | 6.7% | |
| Oropharynx | 39.1% | 39.2% | 38.9% | |
| Age Group | 0.0224 | |||
| ≤40 years | 3.3% | 3.3% | 3.8% | |
| 40–64 years | 56.4% | 56.6% | 54.5% | |
| 65–80 years | 34.4% | 34.4% | 33.3% | |
| >80 years | 5.9% | 5.7% | 8.4% | |
| Race | 0.0201 | |||
| White | 56.8% | 54.4% | 62.3% | |
| Black | 13.9% | 14.0% | 12.2% | |
| Hispanic | 6.4% | 6.5% | 5.8% | |
| Asian or Pacific Islander | 1.4% | 1.4% | 1.8% | |
| Native American | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.4% | |
| Other | 1.9% | 1.9% | 1.6% | |
| Unknown | 21.1% | 21.3% | 15.9% | |
| Sex | 0.0179 | |||
| Male | 74.5% | 74.7% | 70.5% | |
| Female | 25.5% | 25.3% | 29.5% | |
| Payor | <0.0001 | |||
| Private | 42.7% | 28.7% | 33.3% | |
| Medicare | 20.8% | 43.1% | 35.4% | |
| Medicaid | 28.9% | 21.1% | 16.0% | |
| Self-pay | 3.5% | 3.4% | 5.3% | |
| No Charge | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.8% | |
| Other | 3.4% | 3.1% | 9.2% | |
| Nature of Admission | 0.0824 | |||
| Elective | 24.6% | 24.8% | 21.1% | |
| Emergency/Urgent | 75.4% | 75.2% | 78.9% | |
| Comorbidity | 0.0570 | |||
| 0 | 54.9% | 54.6% | 59.6% | |
| 1 | 29.2% | 29.3% | 27.2% | |
| 2 | 10.1% | 10.2% | 8.4% | |
| ≥3 | 5.8% | 5.9% | 4.8% | |
| Prior radiation | <0.0001 | |||
| No | 94.7% | 95.0% | 89.9% | |
| Yes | 5.3% | 5.0% | 10.1% | |
| In-hospital radiation | 0.0012 | |||
| No | 93.5% | 93.3% | 97.3% | |
| Yes | 6.5% | 6.7% | 2.7% | |
| Chemotherapy | <0.0001 | |||
| No | 86.8% | 83.0% | 97.7% | |
| Yes | 16.3% | 17.0% | 4.9% | |
| Hospital Volume Quintile | 0.2841 | |||
| Very low | 20.5% | 20.5% | 21.7% | |
| Low | 19.4% | 19.5% | 18.1% | |
| Intermediate | 19.2% | 19.1% | 20.2% | |
| High | 20.6% | 20.4% | 23.0% | |
| Very high | 20.3% | 20.5% | 16.0% | |
| Hospital Bedsize | 0.2795 | |||
| Small | 11.46 | 11.7% | 9.6% | |
| Medium | 22.0% | 21.9% | 24.7% | |
| Large | 66.4% | 66.4% | 65.7% | |
| Hospital Teaching Status | 0.9194 | |||
| Non-teaching hospital | 44.1% | 44.1% | 43.8% | |
| Teaching hospital | 55.9% | 55.9% | 56.2% | |
| Hospital Ownership/Control | 0.5859 | |||
| Government, nonfederal | 20.1% | 20.0% | 22.6% | |
| Private, nonprofit | 70.2% | 70.3% | 67.7% | |
| Private, for profit | 9.7% | 9.7% | 9.7% | |
| Geographic Region | 0.8546 | |||
| Northeast | 21.2% | 21.2% | 20.9% | |
| Midwest | 24.2% | 24.3% | 22.3% | |
| South | 38.4% | 38.4% | 40.2% | |
| West | 16.2% | 16.1% | 16.6% | |
| Hospital location | 0.6318 | |||
| Rural | 10.9% | 10.9% | 11.6% | |
| Urban | 89.1% | 89.1% | 88.4% | |
| Medical comorbidities | ||||
| Acute cardiac event | 12.1% | 12.1% | 10.3% | 0.1320 |
| Acute pulmonary edema/failure | 9.0% | 8.8% | 12.3% | 0.0023 |
| Acute cerebrovascular event | 1.0% | 1.0% | 6.1% | 0.0374 |
| Acute renal failure | 4.9% | 4.8% | 6.1% | 0.1303 |
| Acute hepatic failure | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.3% | 0.3072 |
| Pneumonia | 21.6% | 21.5% | 23.1% | 0.3008 |
| Sepsis | 5.1% | 5.1% | 5.1% | 0.9165 |
| Urinary tract infection | 4.8% | 4.8% | 4.5% | 0.7116 |
| Weight loss | 18.2% | 18.1% | 20.1% | 0.2117 |
| Dysphagia | 12.7% | 12.8% | 12.4% | 0.7579 |
| Dehydration | 9.2% | 9.2% | 10.3% | 0.3327 |
| ICU care | ||||
| Mechanical ventilation | 5.8% | 5.7% | 6.9% | 0.1858 |
| Cardiopulmonary resuscitation | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.6090 |
| Disposition | <0.0001 | |||
| Routine | 42.0% | 43.5% | 14.0% | |
| Short-term hospital care | 2.4% | 2.4% | 1.4% | |
| Other facility | 18.3% | 18.0% | 24.0% | |
| Home health care | 25.1% | 25.2% | 24.4% | |
| AMA | 0.7% | 0.6% | 0.6% | |
| Died in hospital | 11.3% | 10.1% | 34.7% | |
| Alive, disposition unknown | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.9% | |