| Characteristic | ≥ 2 episodes of distressing symptoms before death, no. (%)* n = 140 | < 2 episodes of distressing symptoms before death, no. (%)* n = 339 | p value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age, yr, mean ± SD | 74.8 (13.4) | 73.6 (17.1) | 0.40 |
| Female sex | 76 (54.3) | 155 (45.6) | 0.09 |
| Hospital service at time of death (top 10) | |||
| Intensive care | 15 (10.7) | 111 (32.7) | < 0.001 |
| General medicine | 49 (35.0) | 87 (25.6) | 0.05 |
| Cardiology | 9 (6.4) | 33 (6.9) | 0.3 |
| Oncology | 22 (15.7) | 14 (4.1) | < 0.001 |
| Neurology | 2 (1.4) | 12 (3.5) | 0.4 |
| Malignant hematology | 6 (4.3) | 6 (1.8) | 0.1 |
| General surgery | 5 (3.6) | 7 (2.1) | 0.3 |
| Radiation oncology | 7 (5.0) | 5 (1.5) | 0.1 |
| Family medicine | 2 (1.4) | 8 (2.4) | 0.7 |
| Gynecologic oncology | 5 (3.6) | 4 (1.2) | 0.1 |
| No. of inpatient encounters in the last 6 mo | |||
| 0 | 76 (54.3) | 231 (67.9) | 0.005 |
| 1 | 36 (25.7) | 63 (18.5) | 0.08 |
| 2 | 15 (10.7) | 24 (7.1) | 0.20 |
| 3 | 5 (3.6) | 17 (5.0) | 0.6 |
| ≥ 4 | 8 (5.7) | 5 (1.5) | 0.007 |
| Inpatient days in the last year, mean ± SD | 14.4 ± 27.1 | 10.1 ± 24.1 | 0.09 |
| Patient has a family physician | 135 (96.4) | 299 (87.9) | 0.04 |
| LOS, median (IQR) | 17.6 (31.6) | 13.2 (19.8) | 0.05 |
| Predicted mortality | 0.29 (0.19) | 0.31 (0.20) | 0.3 |
| Elixhauser comorbidity score, mean ± SD | 15.5 ± 9.3 | 11.2 ± 8.5 | < 0.001 |
| Q1 -3 to 5 | 27 (19.3) | 103 (30.5) | |
| Q2 6 to 12 | 25 (17.9) | 100 (29.6) | |
| Q3 12 to 19 | 39 (27.9) | 83 (24.6) | |
| Q4 19 to 48 | 49 (35.0) | 52 (15.4) | |
| Patient wishes for resuscitation documented within 24 hr of admission | |||
| Not documented | 36 (25.7) | 100 (29.7) | 0.4 |
| Full resuscitation including CPR | 27 (19.3) | 71 (20.9) | 0.7 |
| Resuscitation but no CPR | 11 (7.9) | 51 (15.0) | 0.04 |
| No resuscitation | 66 (47.1) | 117 (34.4) | 0.01 |
| Family present in the last 24 hr of life | 106 (75.7) | 272 (80.0) | 0.3 |
| Patient wishes for no resuscitation documented in chart at time of death | 127 (90.7) | 241 (71.1) | < 0.001 |
| Patient wishes for no resuscitation documented ≤ 24 hr before death | 18 (12.9) | 81 (23.9) | < 0.001 |
| Palliative care consulted | 63 (45.0) | 81 (23.8) | < 0.05 |
Note: CPR = cardiopulmonary resuscitation, LOS = length of stay, IQR = interquartile range, SD = standard deviation.
*Unless otherwise specified.