Table 2.
Demographics of the cohort in the last 26 weeks of life using the most recent assessment.
| Cohort Characteristics | Overall | Died in Hospital |
Died at Home | Absolute Standardized Difference |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % (N) | |||||
| Total | 100.0 (27,295) | 58.2 (15,888) | 41.8 (11,407) | ||
| Age | Under 65 | 22.1 (6021) | 22.4 (3562) | 21.6 (2459) | 0.02 |
| 65–74 | 22.0 (6009) | 22.0 (3496) | 22.0 (2513) | 0.00 | |
| 75–84 | 32.9 (8988) | 33.6 (5340) | 32.0 (3648) | 0.03 | |
| 85+ | 23.0 (6275) | 22.0 (3488) | 24.4 (2787) | 0.06 | |
| Most recent assessment’s date before death | 0–4 weeks | 22.8 (6219) | 22.1 (3504) | 23.8 (2714) | 0.04 |
| 5–12 weeks | 39.3 (10,717) | 39.4 (6251) | 39.1 (4465) | 0.01 | |
| 13–26 weeks | 38.0 (10,359) | 38.6 (6131) | 37.1 (4228) | 0.03 | |
| Sex | Female | 46.8 (12,777) | 46.7 (7411) | 47.0 (5365) | 0.01 |
| Pain Scale | Moderate to Severe Pain (score of 2–4) |
62.8 (17,154) | 61.4 (9751) | 64.9 (7403) | 0.07 |
| Depression Rating Scale | Signs/symptoms of depression (score of 3–14) | 22.3 (6076) | 21.6 (3434) | 23.2 (2642) | 0.04 |
| Cognitive Performance Scale | Moderate–severe impairment (score of 2–6) | 31.8 (8683) | 29.5 (4681) | 35.1 (4002) | 0.12 |
| ADL* Self-Performance Hierarchy Scale | Moderate–severe impairment (score of 3–6) | 20.3 (5543) | 15.9 (2530) | 26.4 (3013) | 0.26 |
| IADL § Involvement Scale | Moderate–severe impairment (score of 14–48) | 48.9 (13,361) | 44.1 (7006) | 55.7 (6355) | 0.23 |
| Social decline | Decline in social activities as compared to 90 days ago | 62.0 (19,622) | 59.0 (9374) | 66.2 (7548) | 0.15 |
| Caregiver items | Primary caregiver lives with client | 67.9 (18,532) | 67.1 (10,659) | 69.0 (7873) | 0.04 |
| Caregiver expresses feelings of anger, distress or depression | 18.8 (5143) | 18.1 (2877) | 19.9 (2266) | 0.05 | |
| Marital status | Married, common-law | 58.2 (15,878) | 57.8 (9178) | 58.7 (6700) | 0.02 |
| Widowed, separated, divorced | 37.1 (10,116) | 36.9 (5858) | 37.3 (4258) | 0.01 | |
| Never married | 4.8 (1301) | 5.4 (852) | 3.9 (449) | 0.07 | |
| Education completed µ | Grade 11 or less | 38.7 (7233) | 40.6 (4481) | 36.0 (2752) | 0.09 |
| High school | 24.6 (4587) | 23.9 (2640) | 25.5 (1947) | 0.04 | |
| College, university, trade | 36.8 (6867) | 35.5 (3915) | 38.6 (2952) | 0.06 | |
* ADL = Activities of Daily Living. The Hierarchy Scale examines the level of assistance required for 4 ADLs (i.e., eating, locomotion, toilet use, and personal hygiene). The scale is scored from 0 to 6. § IADL = Independent Activities of Daily Living. The Involvement Scale is based on a score from 0 (independent) to 6 (total dependence) for 7 items: (i.e., meal preparation, ordinary housework, managing finances, medications, phone use, shopping, and transportation). Individual items are summed, producing a scale that ranges from 0 to 48. µ Missing data for education: n = 8606.