Table 1.
Patient demographic and clinical characteristics stratified by level of palliative care involvement
| Category | n (n = 250,640) | No involvement n(%) (n = 95,450) | Low involvement n(%) (n = 98,849) | Medium-high involvement n(%) (n = 60,341) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | ||||
| 18–40 | 4401 | 2280 (2) | 1382 (2) | 739 (1) |
| 41–55 | 16,778 | 6157 (6) | 5948 (6) | 4673 (8) |
| 56–70 | 54,974 | 18,999 (20) | 20,248 (21) | 15,727 (26) |
| 71–85 | 104,250 | 39,738 (42) | 40,139 (42) | 24,373 (40) |
| 86–105 | 70,237 | 28,276 (30) | 27,132 (29) | 14,829 (25) |
| Sex | ||||
| F | 118,534 | 43,364 (45) | 45,211 (48) | 29,959 (50) |
| Rurality | ||||
| Yes | 49,563 | 20,286 (21) | 15,965 (17) | 13,312 (22) |
| Province | ||||
| AB | 29,562 | 12,591 (13) | 10,869 (11) | 6102 (10) |
| BC | 41,283 | 16,333 (17) | 16,103 (17) | 8847 (15) |
| MB | 15,244 | 4776 (5) | 5654 (6) | 4814 (8) |
| NB | 10,992 | 3435 (4) | 3920 (4) | 3637 (6) |
| NL | 7199 | 2499 (3) | 2388 (3) | 2312 (4) |
| NS | 13,494 | 3271 (3) | 4936 (5) | 5287 (9) |
| ON | 118,410 | 46,639 (49) | 46,200 (49) | 25,571 (42) |
| PE | 1856 | 675 (1) | 696 (1) | 485 (1) |
| SK | 12,600 | 5231 (5) | 4083 (4) | 3286 (5) |
| Number of comorbidities | ||||
| 0 | 25,186 | 12,807 (13) | 8176 (9) | 4203 (7) |
| 1 | 84,879 | 26,569 (28) | 28,184 (30) | 30,126 (50) |
| 2 | 64,604 | 24,015 (25) | 25,842 (27) | 14,747 (24) |
| 3+ | 75,971 | 32,059 (34) | 32,647 (34) | 11,265 (19) |
| Hospital length of stay (days) | ||||
| 0–2 | 56,892 | 28,992 (30) | 13,294 (14) | 14,606 (24) |
| 3–7 | 64,081 | 25,527 (27) | 22,905 (24) | 15,649 (26) |
| 8–19 | 66,797 | 21,987 (23) | 29,571 (31) | 15,239 (25) |
| 20+ | 62,870 | 18,944 (20) | 29,079 (31) | 14,847 (25) |
| Heart failure | 52,510 | 25,076 (26) | 21,711 (23) | 5723 (9) |
| COPD | 39,731 | 17,240 (18) | 16,541 (17) | 5950 (10) |
| HIV | 418 | 181 (0) | 170 (0) | 67 (0) |
| Liver failure | 16,096 | 6295 (7) | 7457 (8) | 2344 (4) |
| Metastatic cancer | 52,734 | 6992 (7) | 19,475 (21) | 26,267 (44) |
| Major neurocognitive disorders | 19,249 | 7393 (8) | 8545 (9) | 3311 (5) |
| Kidney failure | 23,130 | 10,042 (11) | 9749 (10) | 3339 (6) |
| Van Walraven Index | ||||
| Quartile −1-3 | 58,870 | 28,693 (30) | 19,747 (21) | 10,430 (17) |
| Quartile 4–8 | 65,252 | 27,308 (29) | 23,490 (25) | 14,454 (24) |
| Quartile 9–15 | 60,678 | 23,967 (25) | 24,750 (26) | 11,961 (20) |
| Quartile 16+ | 65,840 | 15,482 (16) | 26,862 (28) | 23,496 (39) |
| Major Surgerya | 47,068 | 23,218 (24) | 20,825 (22) | 3025 (5) |
| ICU stay | 75,302 | 39,774 (42) | 31,117 (33) | 4411 (7) |
| Mechanical ventilation | 52,022 | 29,487 (31) | 20,288 (21) | 2247 (4) |
| CPR | 13,656 | 10,920 (11) | 2551 (3) | 185 (0) |
| Defibrillation | 5172 | 3789 (4) | 1293 (1) | 90 (0) |
| Dialysis | 11,860 | 6102 (6) | 5179 (5) | 579 (1) |
| Percutaneous Coronary Intervention | 2616 | 1865 (2) | 690 (1) | 61 (0) |
| Feeding tube | 6626 | 2956 (3) | 2993 (3) | 677 (1) |
| Blood Transfusion | 201 | 96 (0) | 81 (0) | 24 (0) |
| Bronchoscopy | 3264 | 1633 (2) | 1469 (2) | 162 (0) |
| Any active interventionb | 64,897 | 36,726 (38) | 24,729 (26) | 3442 (6) |
Abbreviations: F Female, AB Alberta, BC British Columbia, MB Manitoba, NB New Brunswick, NL Newfoundland, NS Nova Scotia, ON Ontario, PE Prince Edward Island, SK Saskatchewan, COPD Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, HIV Human immunodeficiency virus, ICU Intensive care unit, CPR Cardiopulmonary resuscitation
aMajor surgery is defined according to anatomic site: abdominal, cardiac, retroperitoneal, thoracic and vascular [12]
bAny active intervention is defined as any of the following: mechanical ventilation, CPR, defibrillation, dialysis, percutaneous coronary intervention, feeding tube, blood transfusion, and bronchoscopy