Table 4.
Association between involvement of supportive care professionals and use of morphine, continuous deep sedation and end-of-life decisions
| Involvement of supportive caregivers | N, 4930 | Morphine in the last 24 h before death | Continuous deep sedation | Euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide | Intensive alleviation of symptoms | Forgoing life-prolonging treatment | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | OR (CI) | % | OR (CI) | % | OR (CI) | % | OR (CI) | % | OR (CI) | |||
| Palliative care/pain specialist | Yes | 958 | 88.1 | 2.03 (1.59–2.59) | 28.5 | 2.26 (1.80–2.74) | 8.7 | 1.47 (1.06–2.03) | 63.7 | 1.39 (1.17–1.64) | 36.1 | 0.95 (0.80–1.13) |
| No (ref) | 3972 | 73.6 | 1 | 13.6 | 1 | 2.9 | 1 | 55.4 | 1 | 48.5 | 1 | |
| Psychological/spiritual caregiver | Yes | 788 | 84.2 | 1.72 (1.40–2.11) | 15.4 | 1.18 (0.95–1.45) | 3.9 | 1.11 (0.72–1.73) | 65.2 | 1.51 (1.29–1.76) | 52.0 | 1.26 (1.08–1.48) |
| No (ref) | 4142 | 73.9 | 1 | 15.7 | 1 | 2.9 | 1 | 54.9 | 1 | 45.7 | 1 | |
All percentages are weighted for sampling fractions, non-response and random sampling deviations, to make them representative for all non-sudden deaths in 2010
OR (CI) odds ratios and 95 % confidence intervals, ref reference category