Hospital end-of-life treatment intensity among cancer and non-cancer cohorts.

ABSTRACT:

Context

Hospitals vary substantially in their end-of-life (EOL) treatment intensity. It is unknown if patterns of EOL treatment intensity are consistent across conditions.

Objectives

To explore the relationship between hospitals' cancer- and non-cancer-specific EOL treatment intensity.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective cohort analysis of Pennsylvania acute care hospital admissions for either cancer or congestive heart failure (CHF) and/or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) between 2001 and 2007, linked to vital statistics through 2008. We calculated Bayes's shrunken case-mix standardized (observed-to-expected) ratios of intensive care and life-sustaining treatment use among two EOL cohorts: those prospectively identified at high probability of dying on ad

SUBMITTER: Barnato AE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4329285 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature