How different is the care of terminal pancreatic cancer patients in inpatient palliative care units and acute hospital wards? A nationwide population-based study

Table 4 Medical costs for terminal pancreatic cancer patients according to end-of-life care

Items	Inpatient palliative care (N = 276)		Acute hospital care (N = 276)		P ^*
Items	Adjusted mean	95 % CI	Adjusted mean	95 % CI	P ^*
Diagnosis costs	11.5	11.2–12.0	12.9	12.3–13.5	0.001
Laboratory examination costs	5.9	4.9–6.9	26.8	22.8–33.4	<0.001
Radiologic examination costs	1.1	0.7–1.6	16.9	9.6–28.0	<0.001
Therapeutic costs	16.7	15.0–18.4	25.7	22.1–29.9	<0.001
Medication costs	25.4	22.4–29.6	61.8	54.8–68.9	<0.001
Hemodialysis costs	2.5	1.2–4.2	22.7	12.2–38.3	0.005
Total medical costs	107	101–113	253	210–308	<0.001

All values are reported as US dollars/day
^*Analyzed using a generalized linear model with gamma distribution and log link function. 95 % CI: 95 % confidence interval

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