Table 2.
Aggressiveness of care in the last 30 days of life for 278 patients with pancreatic cancer
| Palliative Care Referral (Days Before Death) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Early (> 90 days) | Late (≤ 90 days) | p-value | |
| N = 91 | N = 187 | ||
| Emergency Department (ED) Presentations | |||
| No of ED presentations | |||
| Total number of patients | 22 (24.2%) | 79 (42.2%) | 0.003 |
| No of patients presenting once | 19 (86.3%) | 67 (84.8%) | 0.57a |
| No of patients presenting twice | 2 (9.1%) | 11 (13.9%) | |
| No of patients presenting thrice | 1 (4.6%) | 1 (1.3%) | |
| Total number of presentations | 26 | 92 | |
| Reason for ED presentation (based upon all presentations in last 30 days of life)b | |||
| Pain | 9 (34.6%) | 19 (20.7%) | |
| Nausea/Vomiting | 1 (3.8%) | 16 (17.4%) | |
| Confusion | 1 (3.8%) | 8 (8.7%) | |
| Other Symptoms | 7 (26.9%) | 8 (8.7%) | |
| Infection | 3 (11.5%) | 8 (8.7%) | |
| Complications of Cancer | 6 (23.1%) | 22 (23.9%) | |
| Investigations and Procedures | 0 | 1 (1.1%) | |
| Funtional decline | 0 | 4 (4.3%) | |
| Other medical problems | 0 | 9 (9.8%) | |
| End of life care | 1 (3.8%) | 0 | |
| Outcome of ED presentation | |||
| Admit to acute hospital | 18 (81.8%) | 66 (83.6%) | 0.26 |
| Discharge home from ED | 1 (4.6%) | 8 (10.1%) | |
| Transfer to palliative care unit | 0 | 2 (2.5%) | |
| Death in ED | 3 (13.6%) | 3 (3.8%) | |
| Acute Hospital Admissions by Patient | |||
| No of acute hospital admission | |||
| Total number of patients | 48 (52.8%) | 122 (65.2%) | 0.04 |
| 0 | 43 (47.3%) | 65 (34.7%) | 0.009 |
| 1 | 47 (51.6%) | 104 (55.6%) | |
| 2 | 1 (1.1%) | 16 (8.6%) | |
| 3 | 0 | 2 (1.1%) | |
| Total admission episodes | 49 | 142 | |
| Outcome of acute hospital admission (total admission episodes) | |||
| Discharge home from ward | 12 (24.5%) | 48 (33.8%) | 0.31 |
| Transfer to palliative care unit | 19 (38.8%) | 55 (38.7%) | |
| Transfer to another hospital | 0 | 2 (1.4%) | |
| Death on ward | 18 (36.7%) | 37 (26.1%) | |
| Intensive Care Admission | 1 (1.1%) | 2 (1.1%) | 0.98 |
| Chemotherapy Use | |||
| Received any chemotherapyc | 73 (80.2%) | 97 (51.9%) | < 0.001 |
| Received Chemotherapy < 30 daysd | 12/72 (16.7%) | 23/94 (24.5%) | 0.22 |
Data presented as number (%)
aTesting hypothesis of a difference in number of presentations, in patients who present to ED.
bPatients may present with ≥1 reason to ED
cFigures relate to any chemotherapy, not just < 30 days
dExcludes 4 patients with unknown chemotherapy status