Table 2.
Characteristics of Nova Scotians by receipt of home visits during the end-of-life, 1992–1997
| Characteristic | Home visit receipt; No. (and %) of adult Nova Scotians* | |
| No home visit n = 3947 | At least one home visit n = 3265 | |
| Neighbourhood income quintile† | ||
| Lower | 1029 (60.0) | 685 (40.0) |
| Lower middle | 866 (58.4) | 618 (41.6) |
| Middle | 747 (51.5) | 704 (48.5) |
| Upper middle | 676 (52.3) | 610 (47.4) |
| Upper | 399 (45.2) | 483 (54.8) |
| Sex† | ||
| Male | 2323 (56.9) | 1763 (43.2) |
| Female | 1624 (52.0) | 1502 (48.1) |
| Year of death‡ | ||
| 1992 | 643 (56.3) | 499 (43.7) |
| 1993 | 637 (54.8) | 525 (45.2) |
| 1994 | 655 (52.7) | 588 (47.3) |
| 1995 | 648 (52.1) | 597 (48.0) |
| 1996 | 679 (54.7) | 562 (45.3) |
| 1997 | 685 (58.1) | 494 (41.9) |
| Age group§ | ||
| < 65 years | 968 (55.6) | 772 (44.4) |
| 65–74 years | 1165 (54.2) | 986 (45.8) |
| 75+ years | 1814 (54.6) | 1507 (45.4) |
| Cancer case of death† | ||
| Lung | 2094 (57.0) | 1580 (43.0) |
| Colorectal | 674 (55.1) | 549 (44.9) |
| Breast | 629 (50.6) | 614 (49.4) |
| Prostate | 550 (51.3) | 522 (48.7) |
| Survival time† | ||
| <61 days | 935 (78.4) | 258 (21.6) |
| 61–120 days | 307 (49.8) | 310 (50.2) |
| 121–180+ days | 2705 (50.1) | 2697 (49.9) |
| Region of residency† | ||
| Halifax regional municipality | 1082 (47.2) | 1211 (52.8) |
| All other regions of Nova Scotia | 2855 (58.2) | 2049 (41.8) |
| Visit within a long term care center (LTC)† | ||
| None | 3421 (53.6) | 2968 (46.5) |
| At least one LTC visit | 526 (63.9) | 297 (36.1) |
| Specialty visits‡ | ||
| 0–2 | 1066 (57.5) | 789 (42.5) |
| 3–6 | 1025 (54.4) | 859 (45.6) |
| 7–13 | 736 (54.8) | 608 (45.2) |
| 14+ | 1120 (52.6) | 1009 (47.4) |
| Total days as hospital inpatient‡ | ||
| 0 | 568 (55.4) | 458 (44.6) |
| 1–12 | 1247 (55.3) | 1007 (44.7) |
| 13–31 | 1132 (52.0) | 1044 (48.0) |
| 32+ | 1000 (57.0) | 756 (43.1) |
| Admission to palliative care program† | ||
| No | 3342 (59.2) | 2301 (40.8) |
| Yes | 605 (38.6) | 964 (61.4) |
| Received palliative radiation† | ||
| No | 3085 (56.8) | 2346 (43.2) |
| Yes | 862 (48.4) | 919 (51.6) |
* Total number of patients by characteristic may vary due to missing values. Proportions are row percentages and may total more than 100 due to rounding.
†Characteristic is associated with receipt of home visit (p < 0.001)
‡Characteristic is associated with receipt of home visits (p < 0.05)
§No significant association demonstrated