Table 1.
Demographics, Patterns of Care, and Hospice Episode Characteristics for ARIC Hospice Users (2006–2012).a
| Variable | Total, % or Mean (SD) |
COPD, % or Mean (SD) |
Cancer, % or Mean (SD) |
Dementia, % or Mean (SD) |
CVD, % or Mean (SD) |
Other, % or Mean (SD) |
FFS Subsample, % or Mean (SD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | 1248 | 81 | 495 | 161 | 258 | 253 | 791 |
| Characteristics | |||||||
| Age | 78 (5.8) | 77 (5.6) | 77 (5.7) | 79 (5.7) | 77 (5.8) | 80 (5.6) | 78 (5.8) |
| Female | 54% | 46% | 49% | 57% | 60% | 60% | 54% |
| Caucasian | 70% | 85% | 77% | 70% | 47% | 74% | 69% |
| NH resident (AFU) | 3% | 1% | 1% | 6% | 3% | 6% | 4% |
| NH admission—FFS only | n/a | 11% | 9% | 30% | 17% | 33% | 28% |
| High school degree | 69% | 65% | 75% | 71% | 60% | 65% | 70% |
| Married | 23% | 22% | 25% | 21% | 23% | 21% | 23% |
| >5CCI | 66% | 64% | 57% | 67% | 77% | 75% | 80% |
| >5 CCW-FFS only | n/a | 52% | 54% | 22% | 62% | 51% | 59% |
| Index hospice episode | |||||||
| Days (mean) | 86 (141) | 81 (131) | 62 (101) | 129 (181) | 92 (132) | 100 (176) | 91 (154) |
| Days (median) | 27 | 32 | 23 | 43 | 16 | 42 | 27 |
| Short stay (≤7 days) | 25% | 25% | 21% | 16% | 27% | 35% | 24% |
| Long stay (> 180 days) | 15% | 15% | 11% | 25% | 15% | 17% | 16% |
| Live discharge | 23% | 12% | 13% | 26% | 42% | 24% | 22% |
| Hospice characteristics | |||||||
| Free standing | 54% | 37% | 49% | 56% | 70% | 54% | 63% |
| For profit | 31% | 12% | 25% | 33% | 55% | 26% | 33% |
| Nonprofit/government | 69% | 88% | 75% | 67% | 45% | 74% | 67% |
| Patterns hospital care prior to hospice use | |||||||
| Any hospital admissionb | 77% | 89% | 78% | 65% | 78% | 77% | 80% |
| Days in the hospitalb | 4 (6.3) | 6 (6.3) | 5 (6.4) | 3 (5.9) | 4 (6.0) | 5 (6.4) | 5 (6.3) |
| Increasing hospital useb | 18% | 25% | 18% | 10% | 20% | 18% | 18% |
Abbreviations: AFU, annual follow-up survey; ARIC, Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities; CCI, Charlson Comorbidity Index from inpatient claims between 2005 and 2012; CCW, Chronic Condition Warehouse comorbidity measure; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; CVD, cardiovascular disease; FFS, fee-forservice Medicare beneficiaries subgroup; NH, nursing home; SD, standard deviation.
a
High school degree indicates completion of high school degree or equivalent. Hospice episode mean days are underestimated due to the 61 episodes included that were ongoing at the end of the study period.
b
Over the year prior to hospice admission.