Specialty palliative care use among cancer patients: A population-based study.
<h4>Background</h4>Rigorous population-based assessments of the use of specialty palliative care (SPC) in the US are rare.<h4>Settings/subjects</h4>This study examined SPC use among cancer patients in a mid-sized metropolitan area in Southeast US.<h4>Measurements</h4...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2025-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0313732 |
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| Summary: | <h4>Background</h4>Rigorous population-based assessments of the use of specialty palliative care (SPC) in the US are rare.<h4>Settings/subjects</h4>This study examined SPC use among cancer patients in a mid-sized metropolitan area in Southeast US.<h4>Measurements</h4>In this cancer decedent cohort study, data were acquired and linked from the state-wide cancer registry; state-wide hospital discharge dataset; and local SPC providers.<h4>Results</h4>12,030 individuals with cancer were included in this study; only 2,958 (24.6%) used SPC. Of the 9,072 persons who did not use SPC, 3,877 (42.7%) went only to hospitals that did not offer SPC; and 3,517 (38.8%) went to hospitals that offered SPC but did not use it. About half of SPC recipients (1493; 50.5%) first received SPC in the final 30 days of life, including 768 (26.0%) in the final week of life. Characteristics associated with using SPC use included being in an socio-economic status quintile other than the lowest; being younger; being Black; having a solid (versus hematological) cancer; having a shorter survival with cancer; dying in the latter two years of the study; being from an area of low or complete rurality; having a hospital admission in the final 60 days prior to initiation of PC or death; having more days in hospital; and living within 15 miles of a hospital offering SPC.<h4>Conclusions</h4>In this population-based study, only one-quarter of cancer patients used SPC, and for half who did so, it came in the final 30 days of life. |
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| ISSN: | 1932-6203 |