Table 3.

Association between Decedent, Spousal, and Regional Characteristics and Hospice Use (n = 1,567)

	Hospice use adjusted OR	95% CI	p
Decedent factors
Age 75–84	1.356	1.053–1.747	0.02
Age 85+	1.406	1.026–1.926	0.03
High school degree	1.220	0.960–1.549	0.10
Female	0.933	0.690–1.261	0.65
Non-Hispanic white/caucasian	1.008	0.695–1.464	0.96
Nursing home resident	0.456	0.281–0.740	<0.01
Has advance directive	1.762	1.347–2.305	<0.01
Death expected by family	6.029	4.652–7.812	<0.01
ADL difficulty	1.265	0.941–1.700	0.12
IADL difficulty	1.329	0.982–1.800	0.07
Chronic kidney disease	0.828	0.633–1.083	0.10
Ischemic heart disease	0.772	0.604–0.986	0.03
CHF	0.821	0.635–1.061	0.08
Diabetes	0.891	0.696–1.142	0.55
COPD	1.094	0.841–1.424	0.50
Cancer	1.881	1.460–2.424	<0.01
Depression	1.431	1.042–1.964	0.03
Osteoporosis	1.236	0.823–1.857	0.31
Spousal factors
Spouse more education than decedent	0.825	0.578–1.176	0.29
Spouse less education than decedent	0.578	0.405–0.825	0.00
Self-rated health: Poor/fair	0.884	0.670–1.166	0.38
Primary caregiver end-of-life only	1.628	1.223–2.166	<0.01
Primary caregiver long-term	1.090	0.814–1.459	0.56
Regional factors
No. specialists per 100,000 residents	0.995	0.989–1.000	0.06

Fully adjusted logistic regression model with robust standard errors clustered by hospital referral region (HRR). Referent categories are: decedent age <75, decedent less than high school education, spouse and decedent have same education level.

OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval; ADL, activities of daily living; IADL, instrumental activities of daily living; CHF, congestive heart failure; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.