Dataset Information

Prevalence of co-occurring serious illness diagnoses and association with health care utilization at the end of life.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

End-of-life care differs by serious illness diagnosis. Cancer and dementia are serious illnesses that have been associated with less intensive end-of-life health care use. It is not known how health care utilization varies in the presence of >1 serious illness.

Methods

We used the Rochester Epidemiology Project to identify persons living in a midwestern area who died on July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018 at age ≥65 years, and were seriously ill. We examined the number of emergency department (ED), hospital, and intensive care unit (ICU) stays in the last 6 months and the last 30 days of life. We used Poisson regression to determine the incidence rate ratio for ED, hospital, and ICU stay in the last 6 months and 30 days of life by number of serious illness diagnoses. For cancer and dementia, we examined the effect of an additional serious illness.

Results

We included a population of 1372 adults who were, on average, 84 years, 52% female, and 96% white. Approximately 41% had multiple serious illnesses. Compared to older adults with 1 serious illness diagnosis, rates of hospitalization, and ICU stay for adults with 2 or ≥3 serious illness diagnoses were at least 1.5 times higher in the last 6 months and the last 30 days of life. Rates of ED visits were significantly higher for older adults with 2 or ≥3 serious illness diagnoses in the last 6 months of life, but only higher for those with ≥3 versus 1 serious illness diagnosis in the last 30 days of life. For both cancer and dementia, rates of ED visits, hospitalization and ICU stay were lower for the condition alone than when an additional serious illness diagnosis was present.

Conclusion

Having multiple serious illnesses increases the risk of health care utilization at the end of life.

SUBMITTER: Nothelle S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9489605 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Prevalence of co-occurring serious illness diagnoses and association with health care utilization at the end of life.

Nothelle Stephanie S Chamberlain Alanna M AM Jacobson Debra D Green Ariel R AR Boyd Cynthia M CM Rocca Walter A WA Fan Chun C St Sauver Jennifer L JL

Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 20220520 9

<h4>Introduction</h4>End-of-life care differs by serious illness diagnosis. Cancer and dementia are serious illnesses that have been associated with less intensive end-of-life health care use. It is not known how health care utilization varies in the presence of >1 serious illness.<h4>Methods</h4>We used the Rochester Epidemiology Project to identify persons living in a midwestern area who died on July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018 at age ≥65 years, and were seriously ill. We examined the number of emer ...[more]

PMID: 35593458

Similar Datasets

Project description:ImportanceAdvance care planning (ACP) is intended to maximize the concordance of preferences with end-of-life (EOL) care and is assumed to lead to less intensive use of health care services. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services began reimbursing clinicians for ACP discussions with patients in 2016.ObjectiveTo determine whether billed ACP visits are associated with intensive use of health care services at EOL.Design setting and participantsThis prospective patient-level cohort analysis of seriously ill patients included Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries who met criteria for serious illness from January 1 to December 31, 2016, and died from January 1, 2017, to December 31, 2018. Analyses were completed from November 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021.Main outcomes and measuresFive measures of EOL health care services used (inpatient admission, emergency department visit, and/or intensive care unit stay within 30 days of death; in-hospital death; and timing of first hospice bill) and a measure of EOL expenditures. Analyses were adjusted for age, race and ethnicity, sex, Charlson Comorbidity Index, Medicare-Medicaid dual eligibility, and expenditure by hospital referral region (high, medium, or low). The primary exposure was receipt of a billed ACP service classified as none, timely (>1 month before death), or late (first ACP visit ≤1 month before death).ResultsOf the 955 777 Medicare beneficiaries who met criteria for serious illness in 2016 and died in 2017 or 2018, 522 737 (54.7%) were women, 764 666 (80.0%) were 75 years or older, and 822 684 (86.1%) were non-Hispanic White individuals. Among the study population, 81 131 (8.5%) had a timely ACP visit, and an additional 22 804 (2.4%) had a late ACP visit. After multivariable adjustment, compared with patients without any billed ACP visit, patients with a timely ACP visit experienced significantly less intensive EOL care on 4 of 5 measures, including in-hospital death (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.85; 95% CI, 0.84-0.87), hospital admission (aOR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.83-0.85), intensive care unit admission (aOR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.85-0.88), and emergency department visit (OR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.82-0.84). Only small or insignificant differences in late hospice use or mean total EOL expenditures were noted. Compared with patients without ACP, patients with late ACP experienced more intensive EOL care, including in-hospital death (aOR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.19-1.26), hospital admission (aOR, 5.28; 95% CI, 5.07-5.50), intensive care unit admission (aOR, 1.57; 95% CI, 1.53-1.62), and emergency department visit (aOR, 3.87; 95% CI, 3.72-4.02).Conclusions and relevanceIn this cohort study of US Medicare beneficiaries, billed ACP services during the EOL course of patients with serious illness were relatively uncommon, but if they occurred before the last month of life, they were associated with less intensive use of EOL services. Further research on the variables affecting hospice use and expenditures in the EOL period and the differential effect of late ACP is recommended to understand the relative role of ACP in achieving goal-concordant care.

Project description:ObjectivesAs key team members caring for people with advanced illness, nurses teach patients and families about managing their illnesses and help them to understand their options. Our objective was to determine if nurses' personal healthcare experience with serious illness and end-of-life (EOL) care differs from the general population as was shown for physicians.DesignObservational propensity-matched cohort study.SettingFee-for-service Medicare.ParticipantsNurses' Health Study (NHS) and a random 20% national sample of Medicare beneficiaries aged 66 years or older with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) or congestive heart failure (CHF) diagnosed in the hospital.MeasurementsCharacteristics of care during the first year after diagnosis and the last 6 months of life (EOL).ResultsAmong 57 660 NHS participants, 7380 had ADRD and 5375 had CHF; 3227 ADRD patients and 2899 CHF patients subsequently died. Care patterns in the first year were similar for NHS participants and the matched national sample: hospitalization rates, emergency visits, and preventable hospitalizations were no different in either disease. Ambulatory visits were slightly higher for NHS participants than the national sample with ADRD (13.1 vs 12.5 visits; P < .01) and with CHF (13.7 vs 12.5; P < .001). Decedents in the NHS and national sample had similar acute care use (hospitalization and emergency visits) in both diseases, but those with ADRD were less likely to use life-prolonging treatments such as mechanical ventilation (10.9% vs 13.5%; P = .001), less likely to die in a hospital with a stay in the intensive care unit (10.4% vs 12.1%; P = .03), and more likely to use hospice (58.9% vs 54.8%; P < .001). CHF at the EOL results were similar.ConclusionsNurses with newly identified serious illness experience similar care as the general Medicare population. However, at EOL, nurses are more likely to choose less aggressive treatments than the patients for whom they care. J Am Geriatr Soc 67:1582-1589, 2019.

Project description:BackgroundDementia is a leading cause of death for older adults and is more common among persons from racial/ethnic minoritized groups, who also tend to experience more intensive end-of-life care. This retrospective cohort study compared end-of-life care in persons with and without dementia and identified dementia's moderating effects on the relationship between race/ethnicity and end-of-life care.MethodsAdministrative claims data for 463,590 Medicare fee-for-service decedents from 2016 to 2018 were analyzed. Multivariable logistic and linear regression analyses examined the association of dementia with 5 intensive and 2 quality of life-focused measures. Intensity measures included hospital admission, ICU admission, receipt of any of 5 intensive procedures (CPR, mechanical ventilation, intubation, dialysis initiation, and feeding tube insertion), hospital death, and Medicare expenditures (last 30 days of life). Quality of life measures included timely hospice care (>3 days before death) and days at home (last 6 months of life). Models were adjusted for demographic and clinical factors.Results54% of Medicare decedents were female, 85% non-Hispanic White, 8% non-Hispanic Black, and 4% Hispanic. Overall, 51% had a dementia diagnosis claim. In adjusted models, decedents with dementia had 16%-29% lower odds of receiving intensive services (AOR hospital death: 0.71, 95% CI: 0.70-0.72; AOR hospital admission: 0.84, 95% CI: 0.83-0.86). Patients with dementia had 45% higher odds of receiving timely hospice (AOR: 1.45, 95% CI: 1.42-1.47), but spent 0.74 fewer days at home (adjusted mean: -0.74, 95% CI: (-0.98)-(-0.49)). Compared to non-Hispanic White individuals, persons from racial/ethnic minoritized groups were more likely to receive intensive services. This effect was more pronounced among persons with dementia.ConclusionsAlthough overall dementia was associated with fewer intensive services near death, beneficiaries from racial/ethnic groups minoritized with dementia experienced more intensive service use. Particular attention is needed to ensure care aligns with the needs and preferences of persons with dementia and from racial/ethnic minoritized groups.

Project description:ImportanceEfforts to improve end-of-life care have focused primarily on patients with cancer. High-quality end-of-life care is also critical for patients with other illnesses.ObjectiveTo compare patterns of end-of-life care and family-rated quality of care for patients dying with different serious illnesses.Design, setting, and participantsA retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted in all 146 inpatient facilities within the Veteran Affairs health system among patients who died in inpatient facilities between October 1, 2009, and September 30, 2012, with clinical diagnoses categorized as end-stage renal disease (ESRD), cancer, cardiopulmonary failure (congestive heart failure or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), dementia, frailty, or other conditions. Data analysis was conducted from April 1, 2014, to February 10, 2016.Main outcomes and measuresPalliative care consultations, do-not-resuscitate orders, death in inpatient hospices, death in the intensive care unit, and family-reported quality of end-of-life care.ResultsAmong 57 753 decedents, approximately half of the patients with ESRD, cardiopulmonary failure, or frailty received palliative care consultations (adjusted proportions, 50.4%, 46.7%, and 43.7%, respectively) vs 73.5% of patients with cancer and 61.4% of patients with dementia (P < .001). Approximately one-third of patients with ESRD, cardiopulmonary failure, or frailty (adjusted proportions, 32.3%, 34.1%, and 35.2%, respectively) died in the intensive care unit, more than double the rates among patients with cancer and those with dementia (13.4% and 8.9%, respectively) (P < .001). Rates of excellent quality of end-of-life care reported by 34 005 decedents' families were similar for patients with cancer and those with dementia (adjusted proportions, 59.2% and 59.3%; P = .61), but lower for patients with ESRD, cardiopulmonary failure, or frailty (54.8%, 54.8%, and 53.7%, respectively; all P ≤ .02 vs patients with cancer). This quality advantage was mediated by palliative care consultation, setting of death, and a code status of do-not-resuscitate; adjustment for these variables rendered the association between diagnosis and overall end-of-life care quality nonsignificant.Conclusions and relevanceFamily-reported quality of end-of-life care was significantly better for patients with cancer and those with dementia than for patients with ESRD, cardiopulmonary failure, or frailty, largely owing to higher rates of palliative care consultation and do-not-resuscitate orders and fewer deaths in the intensive care unit among patients with cancer and those with dementia. Increasing access to palliative care and goals of care discussions that address code status and preferred setting of death, particularly for patients with end-organ failure and frailty, may improve the overall quality of end-of-life care for Americans dying of these illnesses.

Project description:Background & aimsThere has been increased attention on ways to improve the quality of end-of-life care for patients with end-stage liver disease; however, there have been few reports of care experiences for patients during terminal hospitalizations. We analyzed data from a large national database to increase our understanding of palliative care for and health care utilization by patients with end-stage liver disease.MethodsWe performed a cross-sectional, observational study to examine terminal hospitalizations of adults with decompensated cirrhosis using data from the National Inpatient Sample from 2009 through 2013. We collected data on palliative care consultation and total hospital costs, and performed multivariate regression analyses to identify factors associated with palliative care consultation. We also investigated whether consultation was associated with lower costs.ResultsAmong hospitalized adults with terminal decompensated cirrhosis, 30.3% received palliative care; the mean cost per hospitalization was $48,551 ± $1142. Palliative care consultation increased annually, and was provided to 18.0% of patients in 2009 and to 36.6% of patients in 2013 (P < .05). The mean cost for the terminal hospitalization did not increase significantly ($47,969 in 2009 to $48,956 in 2013, P = .77). African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and liver transplant candidates were less likely to receive palliative care, whereas care in large urban teaching hospitals was associated with a higher odds of receiving consultation. Palliative care was associated with lower procedure burden-after adjusting for other factors, palliative care was associated with a cost reduction of $10,062.ConclusionsPalliative care consultation for patients with end-stage liver disease increased from 2009 through 2013. Palliative care consultation during terminal hospitalizations is associated with lower costs and procedure burden. Future research should evaluate timing and effects of palliative care on quality of end-of-life care in this population.

Dataset Information

Prevalence of co-occurring serious illness diagnoses and association with health care utilization at the end of life.

Introduction

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Prevalence of co-occurring serious illness diagnoses and association with health care utilization at the end of life.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets