Table 1 Patient demographic and clinical characteristics stratified by level of palliative care involvement
Category | n (n = 250,640) | No involvement n(%) (n = 95,450) | Low involvement n(%) (n = 98,849) | Medium-high involvement n(%) (n = 60,341) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Age | ||||
 18–40 | 4401 | 2280 (2) | 1382 (2) | 739 (1) |
 41–55 | 16,778 | 6157 (6) | 5948 (6) | 4673 (8) |
 56–70 | 54,974 | 18,999 (20) | 20,248 (21) | 15,727 (26) |
 71–85 | 104,250 | 39,738 (42) | 40,139 (42) | 24,373 (40) |
 86–105 | 70,237 | 28,276 (30) | 27,132 (29) | 14,829 (25) |
Sex | ||||
 F | 118,534 | 43,364 (45) | 45,211 (48) | 29,959 (50) |
Rurality | ||||
 Yes | 49,563 | 20,286 (21) | 15,965 (17) | 13,312 (22) |
Province | ||||
 AB | 29,562 | 12,591 (13) | 10,869 (11) | 6102 (10) |
 BC | 41,283 | 16,333 (17) | 16,103 (17) | 8847 (15) |
 MB | 15,244 | 4776 (5) | 5654 (6) | 4814 (8) |
 NB | 10,992 | 3435 (4) | 3920 (4) | 3637 (6) |
 NL | 7199 | 2499 (3) | 2388 (3) | 2312 (4) |
 NS | 13,494 | 3271 (3) | 4936 (5) | 5287 (9) |
 ON | 118,410 | 46,639 (49) | 46,200 (49) | 25,571 (42) |
 PE | 1856 | 675 (1) | 696 (1) | 485 (1) |
 SK | 12,600 | 5231 (5) | 4083 (4) | 3286 (5) |
Number of comorbidities | ||||
 0 | 25,186 | 12,807 (13) | 8176 (9) | 4203 (7) |
 1 | 84,879 | 26,569 (28) | 28,184 (30) | 30,126 (50) |
 2 | 64,604 | 24,015 (25) | 25,842 (27) | 14,747 (24) |
 3+ | 75,971 | 32,059 (34) | 32,647 (34) | 11,265 (19) |
Hospital length of stay (days) | ||||
 0–2 | 56,892 | 28,992 (30) | 13,294 (14) | 14,606 (24) |
 3–7 | 64,081 | 25,527 (27) | 22,905 (24) | 15,649 (26) |
 8–19 | 66,797 | 21,987 (23) | 29,571 (31) | 15,239 (25) |
 20+ | 62,870 | 18,944 (20) | 29,079 (31) | 14,847 (25) |
Heart failure | 52,510 | 25,076 (26) | 21,711 (23) | 5723 (9) |
COPD | 39,731 | 17,240 (18) | 16,541 (17) | 5950 (10) |
HIV | 418 | 181 (0) | 170 (0) | 67 (0) |
Liver failure | 16,096 | 6295 (7) | 7457 (8) | 2344 (4) |
Metastatic cancer | 52,734 | 6992 (7) | 19,475 (21) | 26,267 (44) |
Major neurocognitive disorders | 19,249 | 7393 (8) | 8545 (9) | 3311 (5) |
Kidney failure | 23,130 | 10,042 (11) | 9749 (10) | 3339 (6) |
Van Walraven Index | ||||
 Quartile −1-3 | 58,870 | 28,693 (30) | 19,747 (21) | 10,430 (17) |
 Quartile 4–8 | 65,252 | 27,308 (29) | 23,490 (25) | 14,454 (24) |
 Quartile 9–15 | 60,678 | 23,967 (25) | 24,750 (26) | 11,961 (20) |
 Quartile 16+ | 65,840 | 15,482 (16) | 26,862 (28) | 23,496 (39) |
Major Surgerya | 47,068 | 23,218 (24) | 20,825 (22) | 3025 (5) |
ICU stay | 75,302 | 39,774 (42) | 31,117 (33) | 4411 (7) |
Mechanical ventilation | 52,022 | 29,487 (31) | 20,288 (21) | 2247 (4) |
CPR | 13,656 | 10,920 (11) | 2551 (3) | 185 (0) |
Defibrillation | 5172 | 3789 (4) | 1293 (1) | 90 (0) |
Dialysis | 11,860 | 6102 (6) | 5179 (5) | 579 (1) |
Percutaneous Coronary Intervention | 2616 | 1865 (2) | 690 (1) | 61 (0) |
Feeding tube | 6626 | 2956 (3) | 2993 (3) | 677 (1) |
Blood Transfusion | 201 | 96 (0) | 81 (0) | 24 (0) |
Bronchoscopy | 3264 | 1633 (2) | 1469 (2) | 162 (0) |
Any active interventionb | 64,897 | 36,726 (38) | 24,729 (26) | 3442 (6) |