Palliative care, socioeconomic position, and end-of-life cancer quality outcomes: a mediation analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Lower socioeconomic position (SEP) is a risk factor for poor-quality end-of-life cancer care, but mechanisms of this disparity are not fully understood. We investigated whether receipt of specialised palliative care (SPC) mediates the effect of SEP on end-of-life cancer care quality outcomes.

Methods

This cohort study included all adults who died with cancer from 2015 to 2021, in Ontario, Canada. We performed a mediation analysis using material deprivation as a measure of SEP, classified into quintiles from least (Q1) to most deprived (Q5). End-of-life outcomes included receipt of systemic anticancer treatment (SACT) and high health services use (≥2 emergency department visits, ≥2 hospitalisations, ≥1 intensive care unit admission) in the last 30 days of life, and

SUBMITTER: Iqbal J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12860922 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature