Table 1.
Demographic and clinical characteristics of enrolled patients.
| Variables | Palliative Home Care Type (Before PSM) |
p-Value | Palliative Home Care Type (After PSM) |
p-Value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hospital (n = 131) |
Community (n = 43) |
Hospital (n = 42) |
Community (n = 42) |
|||
| N (%)/Mean ± SD | N (%)/Mean ± SD | |||||
| Age | 74.38 ± 12.30 | 72.14 ± 12.81 | 0.31 | 71.33 ± 13.46 | 72.31 ± 12.92 | 0.74 |
| Gender | 0.60 | 0.66 | ||||
| Female | 79 (60.3%) | 24 (55.8%) | 22 (52.4%) | 24 (57.1%) | ||
| Male | 52 (39.7%) | 19 (44.2%) | 20 (47.6%) | 18 (42.9%) | ||
| Education | 0.99 | 0.52 | ||||
| ≦6 years | 70 (53.4%) | 23 (53.5%) | 18 (42.9%) | 23 (54.8%) | ||
| 7~12 years | 49 (37.4%) | 16 (37.2%) | 20 (47.6%) | 15 (35.7%) | ||
| >12 years | 12 (9.2%) | 4 (9.3%) | 4 (9.5%) | 4 (9.5%) | ||
| Marriage | 0.98 | 0.47 | ||||
| Single | 8 (6.1%) | 2 (4.7%) | 3 (7.1%) | 2 (4.8%) | ||
| Married | 68 (51.9%) | 22 (51.2%) | 27 (64.3%) | 21 (50.0%) | ||
| Widowed | 47 (35.9%) | 16 (37.20%) | 10 (23.8%) | 16 (38.1%) | ||
| Separated/ Divorced |
8 (6.1%) | 3 (7.0%) | 2 (4.8%) | 3 (7.1%) | ||
| Religion | 0.37 | 0.72 | ||||
| None | 33 (25.2%) | 10 (23.3%) | 12 (28.6%) | 10 (23.8%) | ||
| Buddhism | 43 (32.8%) | 12 (27.9%) | 12 (28.6%) | 12 (28.6%) | ||
| Christianity | 10 (7.6%) | 2 (4.7%) | 4 (9.5%) | 2 (4.8%) | ||
| Taoism/Folk religion | 45 (34.4%) | 18 (41.9%) | 14 (33.3%) | 18 (42.9%) | ||
| Other | 0 (0%) | 1 (2.3%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | ||
| ECOG | 0.23 | 0.25 | ||||
| 2 | 1 (0.8%) | 2 (4.7%) | 0 (0%) | 2 (4.8%) | ||
| 3 | 66 (50.4%) | 20 (46.5%) | 24 (57.1%) | 19 (45.2%) | ||
| 4 | 64 (48.9%) | 21 (48.8%) | 18 (42.9%) | 21 (50%) | ||
| Terminal Diagnosis | 0.64 | 0.99 | ||||
| Cancer | 117 (89.3%) | 42 (97.7%) | 41 (97.6%) | 41 (97.6%) | ||
| Brain disease | 7 (5.3%) | 1 (2.3%) | 1 (2.4%) | 1 (2.4%) | ||
| Organ failure | 6 (4.6%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | ||
| ALS | 1 (0.8%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | ||
| Devices/Wounds/Infusion 1 | ||||||
| Nasogastric tube | 41 (31.3%) | 12 (27.9%) | 0.68 | 10 (23.8%) | 12 (28.6%) | 0.62 |
| Foley tube | 51 (38.9%) | 15 (34.9%) | 0.64 | 17 (40.5%) | 15 (35.7%) | 0.65 |
| Tracheostomy | 3 (2.3%) | 1 (2.3%) | 0.99 | 1 (2.4%) | 1 (2.4%) | 0.99 |
| Gastro-/Jejunostomy | 6 (4.6%) | 3 (7.0%) | 0.69 | 2 (4.8%) | 3 (7.1%) | 0.99 |
| Colostomy | 13 (9.9%) | 3 (7.0%) | 0.76 | 3 (7.1%) | 3 (7.1%) | 0.99 |
| Intravenous Fluid | 8 (6.1%) | 0 (0%) | 0.20 | 3 (7.1%) | 0 (0%) | 0.24 |
| Wound | 42 (32.1%) | 14 (32.6%) | 0.95 | 13 (31.0%) | 14 (33.3%) | 0.82 |
| Distance from nursing institution to patient’s home (km) | 3.92 ± 2.12 | 8.21 ± 5.23 | <0.01 | 3.71 ± 1.92 | 7.90 ± 4.86 | <0.01 |
| Distance from hospital to patient’s home (km) | 3.92 ± 2.23 | 9.29 ± 7.35 | <0.01 | 3.71 ± 1.92 | 8.72 ± 6.39 | <0.01 |
Data presented as mean ± standard deviation (SD) for continuous variables and frequency (percentage, %) for categorical variables. The p-values were calculated using the t-test for continuous variables and the Chi-square test for categorical variables. 1 Multiple selection is allowed. PSM: Propensity Score Matching; ECOG: Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group; ALS: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.