Table 3.
Associations between death rattle or terminal restlessness with fluid intake and other patient characteristics (n=371)
| n | Symptom present somewhere during the dying phase | Symptom present during the last 24 hours of life | |||||||
| Death rattle score ≥2 (n=149) | P value | Terminal restlessness (n=96) | P value | Death rattle score ≥2 (n=130) | P value | Terminal restlessness (n=49) | P value | ||
| n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | ||||||
| Gender | 0.361 | 0.323 | 0.575 | 0.342 | |||||
| Male | 181 | 77 (43) | 51 (28) | 66 (36) | 27 (15) | ||||
| Female | 190 | 72 (38) | 45 (24) | 64 (34) | 22 (21) | ||||
| Age (years) | 0.51 | 0.12 | 0.084 | 0.159 | |||||
| <65 | 102 | 44 (43) | 33 (32) | 40 (39) | 19 (19) | ||||
| 65–75 | 116 | 36 (31) | 28 (24) | 31 (27) | 12 (10) | ||||
| >75 | 152 | 68 (45) | 35 (23) | 58 (38) | 18 (12) | ||||
| Diagnosis | 0.830 | 0.643 | 0.970 | 0.640 | |||||
| Cancer | 289 | 118 (41) | 76 (26) | 102 (35) | 36 (12) | ||||
| Non-cancer | 76 | 30 (39) | 18 (24) | 27 (36) | 11 (14) | ||||
| Place of death | 0.977 | 0.117 | 0.748 | 0.679 | |||||
| Hospital | 164 | 66 (40) | 49 (30) | 56 (34) | 23 (14) | ||||
| Hospice | 207 | 83 (40) | 47 (23) | 74 (36) | 26 (13) | ||||
| Duration of the dying phase (hours) | 0.458 | 0.003 | 0.416 | 0.138 | |||||
| <24 | 169 | 62 (37) | 30 (18) | 62 (37) | 16 (9) | ||||
| 24–48 | 104 | 45 (43) | 31 (30) | 39 (38) | 18 (17) | ||||
| >48 | 98 | 42 (43) | 35 (36) | 29 (30) | 15 (15) | ||||
| Level of consciousness at the start of the CPD | 0.153 | 0.001 | 0.350 | 0.159 | |||||
| Conscious | 112 | 39 (35) | 34 (30) | 34 (30) | 19 (17) | ||||
| Semiconscious | 175 | 78 (45) | 53 (30) | 67 (38) | 23 (13) | ||||
| Unconscious | 80 | 29 (36) | 8 (10) | 26 (32) | 6 (8) | ||||
| Opioid use during the last day before the start of the CPD | 0.820* | 0.221* | 0.378* | 0.233* | |||||
| First quartile (<29 mg/24 hours) | 67 | 26 (39) | 16 (24) | 23 (34) | 10 (15) | ||||
| Second quartile (29–74 mg/24 hours) | 64 | 26 (41) | 20 (31) | 25 (39) | 11 (17) | ||||
| Third quartile (75–179 mg/24 hours) | 69 | 23 (33) | 15 (22) | 22 (32) | 7 (10) | ||||
| Fourth quartile (≥180 mg/24 hours) | 72 | 34 (47) | 23 (32) | 29 (40) | 13 (18) | ||||
| Opioid use during the period of 48–25 hours before death | NA | NA | 0.332* | 0.132* | |||||
| First quartile (<8 mg/24 hours) | 91 | NA | NA | 25 (27) | 7 (8) | ||||
| Second quartile (8–57 mg/24 hours) | 94 | NA | NA | 37 (39) | 14 (15) | ||||
| Third quartile (58–143 mg/24 hours) | 91 | NA | NA | 29 (32) | 11 (12) | ||||
| Fourth quartile (≥144 mg/24 hours) | 95 | NA | NA | 39 (41) | 17 (18) | ||||
| Total daily fluid intake during the week before the start of the CPD | 0.186* | 0.074* | 0.324* | 0.265* | |||||
| 0–499 mL/day | 74 | 26 (35) | 14 (19) | 23 (31) | 7 (9) | ||||
| 500–999 mL/day | 117 | 47 (40) | 33 (28) | 42 (36) | 16 (14) | ||||
| ≥1000 mL/day | 144 | 64 (44) | 45 (31) | 55 (38) | 22 (15) | ||||
| Total daily fluid intake during the last day before the start of the CPD | 0.065* | 0.384* | 0.435* | 0.398* | |||||
| 0–499 mL/day | 187 | 70 (37) | 46 (25) | 65 (35) | 22 (12) | ||||
| 500–999 mL/day | 70 | 28 (40) | 24 (34) | 24 (34) | 11 (16) | ||||
| ≥1000 mL/day | 81 | 41 (51) | 22 (27) | 33 (41) | 12 (15) | ||||
| Total daily fluid intake during the period of 48–25 hours before death | NA | NA | 0.130* | 0.049* | |||||
| 0–249 mL/day | 190 | NA | NA | 74 (39) | 19 (10) | ||||
| 250–499 mL/day | 44 | NA | NA | 15 (34) | 8 (18) | ||||
| ≥500 mL/day | 121 | NA | NA | 37 (31) | 21 (17) | ||||
Statistics: Chi-Square test; Mann-Whitney test.
*Mann-Whitney test.
CPD, Care Program for the Dying; NA, not applicable.