Table 2. Outcomes of the Patient Navigator Interventiona.
| Variable | Control (n = 111) | Intervention (n = 112) | P Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advance Care Planning, No. (%) | |||
| Any form of AD documented in the EHR | 40 (36.0) | 73 (65.2) | <.001 |
| Living will documented in the EHR | 14 (12.6) | 44 (39.3) | <.001 |
| MDPOA documented in the EHR | 28 (25.2) | 69 (61.6) | <.001 |
| Study-specific AD documented in the EHR | 0 | 51 (45.5) | NA |
| Pain and Symptom Management | |||
| Brief Pain Inventory (range, 0-10), mean (SD) score | |||
| Pain severity subscale | 3.5 (2.9) | 2.9 (2.5) | .12 |
| Change from baseline | 0.2 (2.7) | 0.1 (2.6) | .88 |
| Pain interference subscale | 3.8 (3.6) | 3.4 (3.3) | .37 |
| Change from baseline | −0.2 (3.0) | 0.1 (3.2) | .66 |
| Need stronger pain medicine, No./total No. (%) | 16/63 (25.4) | 14/55 (25.5) | .99 |
| Need more pain medication than prescribed, No./total No. (%) | 15/64 (23.4) | 6/54 (11.1) | .08 |
| Concerned about using too much pain medication, No./total No. (%) | 20/64 (31.3) | 12/55 (21.8) | .25 |
| Having problems with adverse effects of medications, No./total No. (%) | 17/63 (27.0) | 15/55 (27.3) | .97 |
| McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire (range, 1-10), mean (SD) score | |||
| Overall | 7.2 (2.1) | 7.7 (1.9) | .14 |
| Change from baseline | 0.04 (1.7) | 0.5 (2.0) | .08 |
| Physical subscale | 5.8 (2.9) | 6.8 (2.5) | .009 |
| Change from baseline | 0.1 (3.0) | 1.4 (3.1) | .004 |
| Emotional subscale | 6.8 (3.4) | 7.2 (3.0) | .41 |
| Change from baseline | 0.3 (3.2) | 0.5 (3.0) | .55 |
| Existential subscale | 7.9 (2.3) | 8.1 (2.1) | .45 |
| Change from baseline | −0.1 (2.0) | 0.2 (2.4) | .29 |
| Support subscale | 8.6 (2.1) | 8.8 (1.9) | .52 |
| Change from baseline | 0.1 (2.1) | −0.04 (2.1) | .72 |
| Hospice Use | |||
| Received hospice care, No./total No. (%) | 51/61 (83.6) | 47/59 (79.7) | .58 |
| Hospice length of stay, mean (SD), d | 58.5 (78.8)b | 54.7 (103.4)c | .63d |
Abbreviations: AD, advance directive; EHR, electronic health record; MDPOA, Medical Durable Power of Attorney; NA, not applicable.
a
Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding. There were 0% missing data for advance care planning, less than 3% missing data for pain and symptom management, and less than 1% missing data for hospice use. Unless otherwise indicated, control and intervention groups were compared using t tests for continuous variables and χ2 tests for categorical variables.
b
Among 50 patients.
c
Among 45 patients.
d
Wilcoxon rank sum tests.