Table 1.
Baseline characteristics at six months before death of matched patients in the last six months of life who died from non-cancer illness in Ontario between 2010 and 2015 by receipt of palliative care. Data are number (%) of patients unless stated otherwise
| Received palliative care | Weighted standardised difference | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Yes (n=23 265) | No (n=40 055) | ||
| Age (mean (standard deviation)) | 84.3 (9.0) | 84.1 (8.9) | 0.00 |
| Female sex | 13 700 (58.9) | 23 590 (58.9) | 0.00 |
| Cause of death | |||
| Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease | 4094 (17.6) | 7800 (19.5) | 0.00 |
| Dementia | 9255 (39.8) | 16 023 (40.0) | 0.00 |
| Cirrhosis | 333 (1.4) | 516 (1.3) | 0.00 |
| End stage renal disease | 2339 (10.1) | 3607 (9.0) | 0.00 |
| Congestive heart failure | 2768 (11.9) | 4261 (10.6) | 0.00 |
| Stroke | 4476 (19.2) | 7848 (19.6) | 0.00 |
| Rural residence | 2409 (10.4) | 5806 (14.5) | 0.09 |
| Hospital frailty score | |||
| Mean (standard deviation) | 8.9 (8.5) | 8.7 (8.3) | 0.00 |
| Median (IQR) | 7 (2-14) | 7 (2-13) | 0.00 |
| 0 | 2721 (11.7) | 4723 (11.8) | 0.00 |
| 0.1-8.9 | 8390 (36.1) | 14 513 (36.2) | 0.00 |
| ≥9 | 7503 (32.3) | 12 589 (31.4) | 0.00 |
| Not admitted to hospital | 4651 (20.0) | 8230 (20.5) | 0.00 |
| Chronic conditions | |||
| Arrhythmia | 5227 (22.5) | 7969 (19.9) | 0.05 |
| Primary cancer | 1494 (6.4) | 2117 (5.3) | 0.05 |
| Metastatic cancer | 66 (0.3) | 82 (0.2) | 0.00 |
| Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease | 4640 (19.9) | 7681 (19.2) | 0.04 |
| Congestive heart failure | 4691 (20.2) | 7146 (17.8) | 0.05 |
| Coronary artery disease | 3963 (17.0) | 6140 (15.3) | 0.04 |
| Dementia | 4881 (21.0) | 9570 (23.9) | 0.08 |
| Diabetes | 4926 (21.2) | 8413 (21.0) | 0.01 |
| Hypertension | 19 444 (83.6) | 32 720 (81.7) | 0.04 |
| Renal disease | 2653 (11.4) | 3859 (9.6) | 0.04 |
| Rheumatoid arthritis | 800 (3.4) | 1174 (2.9) | 0.03 |
| Stroke | 2578 (11.1) | 4114 (10.3) | 0.02 |
| Previous healthcare use (median (IQR))* | |||
| No of unique drug prescriptions | 15 (9-21) | 15 (9-22) | 0.01 |
| Emergency department visits | 1 (0-2) | 0 (0-2) | 0.13 |
| Hospital admissions | 0 (0-1) | 0 (0-1) | 0.12 |
IQR=interquartile range.
*
Previous healthcare use within one year of last six months of life.