Table 2.
Patients who died of cancer, COPD or coronary heart failure (CHF) during the intervention period
| Intervention | Control | |
|---|---|---|
| (N = 216) | (N = 271) | |
| Age in years (mean (sd) | 73.0 (14.7) | 74.0 (13.1) |
| Male sex n (%) | 106/202 (53 %) | 144/258 (56 %) |
| Primary diagnosis n (%) | ||
| Cancer | 152/216 (70 %) | 178/271 (66 %) |
| CHF | 32/216 (15 %) | 52/271 (19 %) |
| COPD | 26/216 (12 %) | 20/271 (7 %) |
| Combination of cancer, COPD, CHF | 6/216 (3 %) | 21/271 (8 %) |
| Contact(s) with out-of-hours GP service last 3 months n (%) | 114/209 (55 %) | 157/268 (59 %) |
| By phone | 0.79 (2.6) | 0.80 (1.5) |
| Consultation at service | 0.06 (0.3) | 0.09 (0.5) |
| Home visits | 0.85 (1.6) | 1.14 (2.2) |
| Total | 1.70 (3.3) | 2.03 (2.9) |
| Contact(s) with own GP last month n (%) | 188/212 (89 %) | 250/268 (93 %) |
| By phone office hours | 2.33 (2.9) | 2.71 (3.0) |
| Home visits office hours | 5.59 (5.1) | 4.42 (3.6) |
| By phone out of office hours | 0.19 (0.7) | 0.10 (0.5) |
| Home visits out of office hours | 0.46 (1.1) | 0.38 (1.1) |
| Total | 8.58 (7.5) | 7.62 (6.0) |
| Location of death n (%) | ||
| Home | 103/210 (49 %) | 124/267 (46 %) |
| Hospital | 67/210 (32 %) | 78/267 (29 %) |
| Nursing home | 13/210 (6 %) | 16/267 (6 %) |
| Care home | 12/210 (6 %) | 21/267 (8 %) |
| Hospice | 14/210 (7 %) | 25/267 (9 %) |
| Other location | 1/210 (1 %) | 3/267 (1 %) |
| Hospital admission(s) last 3 months n (%) | 116/210 (55 %) | 159/255 (62 %) |
| Hospital admissions last 3 months mean (sd) | 0.82 (0.9) | 0.89 (0.9) |
Data are mean (sd) or n/N (%). Some percentages do not sum to 100 % because of rounding