Table 4.
Determinants of Death in the Preferred Place
| Preferred Place of Death (Hospital) |
Preferred Place of Death (Home) |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Died in Hospital (Preferred) |
Died at Home (Not Preferred) |
Died in Hospital (Not Preferred) |
Died at Home (Preferred) |
|||||
| Characteristics | N = 39 (%) | N = 25 (%) | OR (95% CI) | P-Value | N = 75 (%) | N = 52 (%) | OR (95% CI) | P-Value |
| Age in yrs, mean ± SD | 56.67 ± 12.68 | 59.00 ± 13.24 | 0.99 (0.95–1.03) | 0.48b | 55.47 ± 13.19 | 60.85 ± 13.45 | 1.03 (1.00–1.06) | 0.03b |
| Highest level ofeducation | ||||||||
| No formal education/primary | 12 (30.8) | 9 (36.0) | 0.79 (0.27–2.29) | 0.66 | 22 (29.3) | 23 (44.2) | 1.91 (0.91–4.00) | 0.084 |
| Secondary educationand above | 27 (69.2) | 16 (64.0) | 1 (Ref) | 53 (70.7) | 29 (55.8) | 1 (Ref) | ||
| Distance from CHBAH in Km, median (IQR) | 9.06 (6.38–19.19) | 16.14 (7.34–25.44) | 1.04 (1.00–1.09) | 0.04c | 8.80 (5.85–16.43) | 10.39 (5.96–16.44) | 1.00 (0.98–1.12) | 0.33c |
| Site of primary tumor | ||||||||
| Breast | 16 (41.0) | 9 (36.0) | 1 (Ref) | 0.37 | 20 (26.7) | 9 (17.3) | 1 (Ref) | 0.425 |
| Lung | 11 (28.2) | 5 (20.0) | 1.24 (0.32–4.71) | 25 (33.3) | 19 (36.5) | 1.69 (0.63–4.53) | ||
| GIT and hepatobiliary | 10 (25.6) | 11 (44.0) | 0.51 (0.16–1.67) | 29 (38.7) | 24 (46.2) | 1.84 (0.71–4.78) | ||
| Sarcoma and melanoma | 2 (5.1) | 0 (0.0) | N/A | 1 (1.3) | 0 (0.0) | N/A | ||
| Patient’s illness understanding | ||||||||
| Relatively healthy | 10 (25.6) | 3 (12.0) | 1 (Ref) | 0.18a | 31 (41.3) | 17 (32.7) | 1 (Ref) | 0.07a |
| Relatively healthy but terminally ill | 1 (2.6) | 1 (4.0) | 0.30 (0.01–6.38) | 1 (1.3) | 1 (1.9) | 1.82 (0.11–31.03) | ||
| Seriously ill but not terminally ill | 22 (56.4) | 20 (80.0) | 0.33 (0.08–1.37) | 43 (57.4) | 30 (57.7) | 1.27 (0.60–2.70) | ||
| Seriously and terminally ill | 6 (15.4) | 1 (4.0) | 1.80 (0.15–21.48) | 0 (0.0) | 4 (7.7) | N/A | ||
| Pain medications | ||||||||
| Step 1 and 2 | 18 (48.6) | 14 (58.3) | 1 (Ref) | 0.46 | 39 (55.7) | 18 (35.3) | 1 (Ref) | 0.03a |
| Step 3 (morphine) | 19 (51.4) | 10 (41.7) | 1.48 (0.52–4.17) | 31 (44.3) | 33 (64.7) | 2.31 (1.10–4.85) | ||
| Did the patient want family and/or friends there? | ||||||||
| Yes | 17 (43.6) | 22 (88.0) | 0.11 (0.03–0.41) | 0.01 | 47 (62.7) | 47 (90.4) | 5.6 (1.99–15.75) | <0.01 |
| No and not sure | 22f (56.4) | 3g (12.0) | 1 (Ref) | 28d (37.3) | 5e (9.6) | 1 (Ref) | ||
| Time between enrollment and death, days, median (IQR) | 50 (20–189) | 57 (27–102) | 1.00 (0.99–1.00) | 0.319 | 15 (17–109) | 70 (23–130) | 1.00 (0.99–1.00) | 0.523 |
CHBAH = Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital; IQR = interquartile range; N/A = not applicable (cell empty); NCD = noncommunicable disease—hypertension, diabetes, cardiac diseases/stroke, asthma/chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Variables with P < 0.05 are shown in bold face.
a
Fisher’s exact test.
b
Student’s t-test.
c
Wilcoxon rank-sum test.
d
23 of the 28 were not sure
e
4 of the 5 were not sure
f
17 of the 22 were not sure
g
All 3 were not sure.