Predictors of Place of Death for those in Receipt of Home-Based Palliative Care Services in Ontario, Canada. Issue 2 (June 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Guerriere, Denise; Husain, Amna; Marshall, Denise; Zagorski, Brandon; Seow, Hsien; Brazil, Kevin; Kennedy, Julia; McLernon, Robin; Burns, Sheri; Coyte, Peter C.
• Is Part Of: Journal of palliative care. Volume 31:Issue 2(2015)
• Page Start: 76
• Page End: 88
• Publication Date: 2015-06
• Subjects: palliative care -- home-based care -- family caregivers -- predictors of place of death -- cancer -- public and private expenditures -- unpaid care; Terminal care -- Periodicals; 362.17505
• DOI: 10.1177/082585971503100203
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0825-8597

Abstract

Many cancer patients die in institutional settings despite their preference to die at home. A longitudinal, prospective cohort study was conducted to comprehensively assess the determinants of home death for patients receiving home-based palliative care. Data collected from biweekly telephone interviews with caregivers (n=302) and program databases were entered into a multivariate logistic model. Patients with high nursing costs (odds ratio [OR]: 4.3; confidence interval [CI]: 1.8–10.2) and patients with high personal support worker costs (OR: 2.3; CI: 1.1–4.5) were more likely to die at home than those with low costs. Patients who lived alone were less likely to die at home than those who cohabitated (OR: 0.4; CI: 0.2–0.8), and those with a high propensity for a home-death preference were more likely to die at home than those with a low propensity (OR: 5.8; CI: 1.1–31.3). An understanding of the predictors of place of death may contribute to the development of effective interventions that support home death.