Table 4.
Differences in patient and care characteristics of patients included on the PaTz register who are discussed during a PaTz meeting or not
| Not discussed (n= 42) | Discussed at least once (n= 146) | OR (95% CI)a | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patient characteristics | ||||||
|
|
||||||
| Patient age, years, mean (SD) | 75.8 (11.4) | 71.4 (12.8) | 0.968 (0.938 to 0.999) | |||
|
| ||||||
| Patient sex, female, n (%) | 17 (40.5) | 67 (45.9) | 1.497 (0.724 to 3.096) | |||
|
| ||||||
| Cause of death, cancer, n (%) | 33 (78.6) | 115 (78.8) | 0.780 (0.311 to 1.953) | |||
|
| ||||||
| Care characteristics | ||||||
|
| ||||||
| Preferred place of death is known by participant, n (%) | 41 (97.6) | 137 (97.2) | 0.843 (0.090 to 7.930) | |||
|
| ||||||
| Place of death, n (%) | ||||||
| Home/with family | 33 (78.6) | 105 (71.9) | 1 (ref) | |||
| Nursing home | 0 (0) | 1 (0.7) | NA | |||
| Care home | 3 (7.1) | 6 (4.1) | 0.946 (0.191 to 4.682) | |||
| Hospital | 2 (4.8) | 12 (8.2) | 2.055 (0.429 to 9.844) | |||
| Hospice | 4 (9.5) | 22 (15.1) | 1.882 (0.596 to 5.943) | |||
|
| ||||||
| Number of hospitalisations in last 30 days, n (%) | ||||||
| 0 | 22 (52.4) | 97 (66.4) | 1 (ref)b | |||
| 1 | 13 (31.0) | 37 (25.3) | 0.681 (0.302 to 1.535) | |||
| ≥2 | 7 (16.7) | 12 (8.2) | 0.320 (0.108 to 0.947) | |||
|
| ||||||
| How long before death did you consider a possible death within 6 months or sooner? n (%) | ||||||
| >6 months | 11 (26.2) | 68 (47.2) | 1 (ref) | |||
| 3–6 months | 17 (40.5) | 49 (34.0) | 0.480 (0.205 to 1.123) | |||
| 1 or 2 months | 9 (21.4) | 18 (12.5) | 0.419 (0.144 to 1.215) | |||
| Between 1 month and 1 week | 5 (11.9) | 8 (5.6) | 0.284 (0.077 to 1.049) | |||
| In the last week | 0 (0) | 1 (0.7) | NA | |||
|
| ||||||
| How long before death was treatment aimed at comfort or palliation? n (%) | ||||||
| >6 months | 5 (11.9) | 45 (31.0) | 1 (ref) | |||
| 3–6 months | 14 (33.3) | 41 (28.3) | 0.291 (0.094 to 0.897) | |||
| 1 or 2 months | 10 (23.8) | 35 (24.1) | 0.372 (0.112 to 1.241) | |||
| Between 1 month and 1 week | 12 (28.6) | 14 (9.7) | 0.130 (0.039 to 0.440) | |||
| In the last week, or not at all | 1 (2.4) | 10 (6.9) | 0.945 (0.097 to 9.238) | |||
|
| ||||||
| Conversations on: n (%) | ||||||
| Main diagnosis | 32 (76.2) | 106 (73.1) | 0.834 (0.369 to 1.884) | |||
| Incurability of disease | 37 (88.1) | 123 (84.8) | 0.546 (0.181 to 1.648) | |||
| Life expectancy | 33 (78.6) | 119 (82.1) | 1.032 (0.421 to 2.530) | |||
| Possible medical complications | 20 (47.6) | 84 (57.9) | 1.386 (0.667 to 2.882) | |||
| Physical complaints | 40 (95.2) | 121 (83.4) | 0.251 (0.056 to 1.125) | |||
| Psychological issues | 23 (54.8) | 92 (63.4) | 1.453 (0.714 to 2.957) | |||
| Social or societal issues | 9 (21.4) | 54 (37.2) | 1.912 (0.839 to 4.357) | |||
| Spiritual or existential issues | 14 (33.3) | 50 (34.5) | 1.093 (0.518 to 2.310) | |||
| Possibilities of palliative care | 37 (88.1) | 120 (82.8) | 0.641 (0.224 to 1.832) | |||
| Burden of treatment | 20 (47.6) | 64 (44.1) | 0.842 (0.417 to 1.702) | |||
| Wishes regarding (non-)treatment | 29 (69.0) | 103 (71.0) | 1.027 (0.474 to 2.226) | |||
a
OR = odds ratio, and CI; calculated in logistic regression analysis adjusted for age of the patient and cause of death (cancer versus other). NA = not calculated (due to a value of zero). Analyses on patients included in the PaTz register (n = 188). Number of missing values ranges between 0 and 5 (for knowledge on preferred place of death). Results in bold: P<0.05.
b
The overall Wald test was not significant. PaTz = PAlliatieve Thuis Zorg, palliative care at home. Ref = reference. SD = standard deviation.