Table 1.
Characteristics of the study population – long stay nursing home decedentsa, N=2510
| Characteristic | No Hospice (N=1622) |
Hospice (N=888) |
P valueb |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age at death, mean (±SD) | 82.5 (8.1) | 82.6 (8.2) | .6374 |
| Age at entry to NH, mean (±SD) | 80.3 (8.0) | 80.4 (8.0) | .9170 |
| Male sex, % | 37.1 | 35.6 | .4654 |
| White race, % | 62.6 | 62.8 | .9214 |
| DNRc, % | 53.6 | 69.0 | <.0001 |
| >=1 hospitalization in year prior to death, % | 80.3 | 69.0 | <.0001 |
| ADL impairmentsc, mean (±SD) | 16.6 (6.0) | 17.9 (5.6) | <.0001 |
| Cognitive performance scalec, mean (±SD) | 2.9 (1.7) | 3.2 (1.7) | .0002 |
| Dual eligible Medicaid/Medicare, % | 60.2 | 61.6 | .5032 |
| Co-morbidities, % | |||
| Cancer | 31.6 | 42.0 | <.0001 |
| CAD | 51.9 | 52.0 | .9557 |
| CHF | 49.1 | 46.4 | .1990 |
| HTN | 86.1 | 86.3 | .9264 |
| Arthritis | 57.9 | 60.7 | .1813 |
| Diabetes | 49.0 | 42.6 | .0020 |
| COPD | 42.8 | 46.2 | .1024 |
| Stroke | 22.9 | 19.5 | .0448 |
| Renal disease | 5.2 | 2.9 | .0084 |
| Liver disease | 9.6 | 11.2 | .2059 |
A propensity score weighting approach was used to adjust for differences in these characteristics between hospice and no hospice subjects. Weights were calculated as 1/p for hospice subjects and 1/(1-p) for non-hospice subjects where p=predicted probability of hospice enrollment.
Chi-square and t-test were used to make comparisons on categorical variables and continuous variables, respectively.
Measured at the last full MDS assessment prior to death NH= nursing home; DNR = do not resuscitate order in place; ADL = activities of daily living; CAD = coronary artery disease; CHF = congestive heart failure; HTN = hypertension; COPD = chronic obstructive pulmonary disease