Place of Death among Hospitalized Patients with Cancer at the End of Life.
BACKGROUND
The majority of hospital deaths in the United States occur after ICU admission. The characteristics associated with the place of death within the hospital are not known for patients with cancer.


OBJECTIVE
The study objective was to identify patient characteristics associated with place of death among hospitalized patients with cancer who were at the end of life.


METHODS
A retrospective cohort study design was implemented. Subjects were consecutive patients hospitalized between 2003 and 2007 at a large comprehensive cancer center in the United States. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to identify patient characteristics associated with place of death (ICU, hospital following ICU, hospital without ICU) among hospital decedents.


RESULTS
Among 105,157 hospital discharges, 3860 (3.7%) died in the hospital: 42% in the ICU, 14% in the hospital following an ICU stay, and 44% in the hospital without ICU services. Individuals with the following characteristics had an increased risk of dying in the ICU: nonlocal residence, newly diagnosed hematologic or nonmetastatic solid tumor malignancies, elective admission, surgical or pediatric services. A palliative care consultation on admission was associated with dying in the hospital without ICU services.


CONCLUSIONS
Understanding existing patterns of care at the end of life will help guide decisions about resource allocation and palliative care programs. Patients who seek care at dedicated cancer centers may elect more aggressive care; thus the generalizability of this study is limited. Although dying in a hospital may be unavoidable for patients who have uncontrolled symptoms that cannot be managed at home, palliative care consultations with patients and their families in advance regarding end-of-life preferences may prevent unwanted admission to the ICU.
1 Clinical Analytics and Informatics Department, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center , Houston, Texas.
Susannah K
SK
Wallace
2 Division of Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Environmental Sciences, The University of Texas Health Science Center School of Public Health , Houston, Texas.
Dorothy K
DK
Waller
3 Division of Biostatistics, The University of Texas Health Science Center School of Public Health , Houston, Texas.
Barbara C
BC
Tilley
2 Division of Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Environmental Sciences, The University of Texas Health Science Center School of Public Health , Houston, Texas.|3 Division of Biostatistics, The University of Texas Health Science Center School of Public Health , Houston, Texas.
Linda B
LB
Piller
4 Critical Care Department, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center , Houston, Texas.
Kristen J
KJ
Price
4 Critical Care Department, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center , Houston, Texas.
Nisha
N
Rathi
4 Critical Care Department, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center , Houston, Texas.
Sajid
S
Haque
4 Critical Care Department, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center , Houston, Texas.
Joseph L
JL
Nates
D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality*; D010166:Palliative Care; D012042:Registries; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013781:Texas / Q000453:epidemiology