Table 4: Effect of pediatric palliative care programs versus usual care on length of stay

Study*	Summary	Outcome
Postier et al.¹⁸	Decrease	Mean total LOS ± SD: 34.09 ± 59.7 d before v. 19.37 ± 34.0 d after intervention; p < 0.001 Interaction: level of exposure to program, noncancer and study period (p < 0.001)
Arland et al.¹⁰	Decrease	Mean LOS per hospital admission: 3.03 after v. 4.05 d before intervention; 25% decrease (no test applied) Mean LOS per patient overall (not only among those admitted to hospital): 1.25 d after v. 3.68 d before intervention; 66% decrease (no test applied)
Dussel et al.¹⁴	No difference/ controversial	Median (IQR) LOS in last mo of life: 17 (4–27) d in intervention group v. 21 (6–28) d in control group; p = 0.494
Ward-Smith et al.¹⁷	No difference/ Controversial	Mean LOS (range): 4 (5 to 17) d in intervention group v. 4 (5 to 18) d in control group
Gans et al.⁵	Decrease	Mean LOS per patient per mo: 4.0 before v. 2.8 after intervention; 32% decrease (no test applied)
Pascuet et al.¹³	Increase	Median no. of days in hospital per mo (range) after intervention: –2.9 (95% CI –4.5 to –1.3); p = 0.001 Median no. of days in hospice per mo (range) after intervention: 2.4 (0.08–26.5) Variation in median no. of total inpatient days per mo after intervention: 0.9 (p = 0.013)

Note: CI = confidence interval, IQR = interquartile range, LOS = length of stay. *Studies listed according to outcome measurement and quality-assessment rank.