Table 1.
Characteristics of Palliative Care Consultations and Controls after Matching with Standard Mean Difference
| Characteristic (%) | Inclusive match |
Precise match |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consultation n = 4111 | Matched controls n = 23,793 | SMD | Consultation n = 1404 | Matched controls n = 2806 | SMD | |
| Age (mean) | 66.14 | 67.529 | 0.094 | 70.772 | 69.017 | 0.114 |
| Female | 52.0 | 54.3 | 0.046 | 52.3 | 0.535 | −0.025 |
| Race | ||||||
| White | 78.3 | 76.6 | 0.04 | 77.1 | 77.3 | −0.004 |
| Black | 14.5 | 16.7 | 0.06 | 13.5 | 15.1 | −0.046 |
| Unknown | 5.2 | 4.2 | 0.044 | 6.8 | 5.4 | 0.06 |
| Other | 2.0 | 2.5 | 0.03 | 2.6 | 2.2 | 0.022 |
| Married | 46.3 | 46.2 | 0.002 | 45.3 | 43.8 | 0.031 |
| Median income by ZIP code | $46,842 | $45,111 | 0.13 | $46,805 | $45,104 | 0.123 |
| Insurancea | ||||||
| Medicare | 65.7 | 71.5 | 0.127 | 81.5 | 83.6 | −0.057 |
| Commercial | 18.6 | 1.5 | 0.095 | 10.2 | 8.9 | 0.041 |
| Medicaid | 14.3 | 12.8 | 0.043 | 7.6 | 6.8 | 0.031 |
| Self-pay/other | 1.5 | 0.7 | 0.084 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.019 |
| Inpatient stays in the past 12 monthsa | ||||||
| 0 or 1 visit | 56.3 | 66.5 | 21.0 | 68.2 | 70.9 | −0.059 |
| 2–3 visits | 23.6 | 22.1 | 3.6 | 16.9 | 14.7 | 0.061 |
| 4 or more visits | 20.0 | 11.4 | 23.9 | 14.9 | 14.4 | 0.014 |
| Admission prioritya | ||||||
| Nonelective | 85.6 | 88.7 | 0.091 | 85.8 | 85.5 | 0.007 |
| Elective | 9.9 | 07.5 | 0.084 | 7.8 | 7.6 | 0.007 |
| Trauma center | 4.5 | 3.8 | 0.034 | 6.5 | 6.9 | −0.016 |
| Admitted via transfera,b | 38.3 | 38.7 | 0.008 | 44.1 | 46.7 | −0.052 |
| Severity of illness* (APR-DRG) | ||||||
| Extreme | 34.1 | 28.2 | 0.128 | 34.3 | 34.8 | −0.012 |
| Major | 48.1 | 50.3 | 0.045 | 47.8 | 47.5 | 0.006 |
| Moderate | 16.1 | 20.2 | 0.106 | 16.4 | 16.1 | 0.007 |
| Minor | 1.7 | 1.3 | 0.032 | 1.6 | 1.6 | −0.001 |
| Elixhauser index | 5.262 | 4.907 | 0.16 | 5.174 | 5.071 | 0.043 |
| Weight lossa | 26.0 | 15.8 | 25.2 | 14.3 | 11.9 | 0.074 |
| Metastatic cancera | ||||||
| Solid tumor without metastasisa | 42.5 | 35.6 | 0.142 | 22.7 | 17.3 | 0.136 |
| Surgery specialty service | 19.5 | 16.5 | 0.08 | 18.1 | 17.2 | 0.023 |
| ICU staya,b | 37.3 | 37.9 | 0.012 | 42.8 | 44.9 | −0.042 |
| Discharge disposition | ||||||
| Hospice | 21.9% | 1.1% | <0.001* | 25.1% | 1.2% | <0.001* |
| SNF | 16.1% | 19.6% | <0.001* | 18.7% | 19.2% | 0.683 |
| Death | 16.5% | 6.0% | <0.001* | 13.9% | 8.7% | <0.001* |
| Discharge disposition by consultation type (n = 4111) | Goals of care (%) | Pain management (%) | Hospice evaluation (%) | Nonpain symptom management (%) | Support | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In-hospital death |
22.10 |
7.40 |
28.29 |
14.00 |
17.28 |
|
| Hospice |
24.78 |
11.24 |
46.92 |
12.00 |
13.58 |
|
| SNF |
22.42 |
10.58 |
15.31 |
11.43 |
12.96 |
|
| Home | 24.51 | 66.42 | 5.82 | 56.86 | 47.53 | |
a
Exact matches in precise match.
b
Exact matches in inclusive match.
*
p < 0.05.
APR-DRGs, All Patient Refined Diagnosis Related Groups; SNF, skilled nursing facility.