Incidence, duration and cost of futile treatment in end-of-life hospital admissions to three Australian public-sector tertiary hospitals: a retrospective multicentre cohort study.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVES:To estimate the incidence, duration and cost of futile treatment for end-of-life hospital admissions. DESIGN:Retrospective multicentre cohort study involving a clinical audit of hospital admissions. SETTING:Three Australian public-sector tertiary hospitals. PARTICIPANTS:Adult patients who died while admitted to one of the study hospitals over a 6-month period in 2012. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:Incidences of futile treatment among end-of-life admissions; length of stay in both ward and intensive care settings for the duration that patients received futile treatments; health system costs associated with futile treatments; monetary valuation of bed days associated with futile treatment. RESULTS:The incidence rate of futile treatment in end-of-life admissions was 12.1% across the three

SUBMITTER: Carter HE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5652539 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature