TABLE 3.
Comparison of significant characteristics by Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) and Do Not Hospitalize (DNH) preferences among home-based primary care patients (N=200) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (July 1 to September 30, 2017)
| Patient Characteristica |
No Preference Indicated N=41 |
Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) N=144 |
Resuscitate N=15 |
p valueb (DNR vs. Resuscitate) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean age in years (SD) | 84.9 (7.5) | 89.0 (6.6) | 82.5 (6.7) | .0004 |
| Minimum–Maximum | 71.0–96.0 | 60.0–106.0 | 69.0–93.0 | |
| Male, % (n) | 46.3% (19) | 27.8% (40) | 40.0% (6) | .321 |
| Dementia diagnosis, % (n) | 31.7% (13) | 63.2% (91) | 26.7% (4) | .011 |
| Mental healthc diagnosis, % (n) | 19.5% (8) | 12.5% (18) | 33.3% (5) | .029 |
| Kidney failure, % (n) | 12.2% (5) | 22.9% (33) | 0.0% (0) | 0.042 |
|
| ||||
| Patient Characteristicsa |
No Preference Indicated N=77 |
Do Not Hospitalize (DNH) N=29 |
Hospitalize N=94 |
p valueb (DNH vs. Resuscitate) |
|
| ||||
| Mean age in years (SD) | 87.0 (7.7) | 91.2 (5.9) | 87.2 (6.6) | .004 |
| Minimum–maximum | 71.0–106.0 | 80.0–104.0 | 60.0–101.0 | |
| Male, % (n) | 32.5% (25) | 41.4% (12) | 29.8% (28) | .244 |
| Median months in program (P10, P90) | 26.6 (2.3, 93.8) | 11.0 (2.5, 53.9) | 20.7 (5.3, 65.9) | .011 |
| Minimum–maximum | 0.9–216.0 | 0.5–66.0 | 1.3–216.0 | |
| English main language spoken,d % (n) | 67.5% (52) | 79.3% (23) | 56.4% (53) | .048 |
| Missing (spoken language not identified) | 0.0% (0) | 0.0% (0) | 3.2% (3) | |
| Congestive heart failure, % (n) | 27.3% (21) | 41.4% (12) | 19.1% (18) | .015 |
Only patient characteristics significant at p < .05 are presented, as well as the demographic characteristics age and male. Other variables tested and found to be not significantly associated with a DNR preference were: arthritis, osteoporosis, congestive heart failure, stroke, diabetes, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, liver disease. Other variables tested and found to be not significantly associated with a DNH preference were: dementia diagnosis, mental health diagnosis, arthritis, osteoporosis, stroke, kidney failure, diabetes, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, liver disease. Frailty quantification was not tested for significance with either preference due to the large number of missing data for this variable.
Tests of comparison included: two independent samples t-test or Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test for continuous data; Chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test for categorical data.
Mental health diagnoses include: anxiety, depression, bipolar, schizophrenia.
Non-English spoken languages identified include: Cantonese, Czech, Finnish, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Italian, Punjabi, Italian, Mandarin, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Serbian, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.
SD = standard deviation.