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Table 1 Patient characteristics by settings of care (n = 191)

From: Patients’ perceptions of palliative care quality in hospice inpatient care, hospice day care, palliative units in nursing homes, and home care: a cross-sectional study

Characteristics

Settings of care

 
  

Hospice inpatient

(n = 72)

Hospice day care

(n = 51)

Palliative units in nursing homes

(n = 30)

Home care

(n = 38)

P-value

Age, mean score (SD)

 

63.81 (11.25)

62.88 (10.33)

70.00 (10.65)

74.79 (10.65)

<0.001/<0.001*

 Range

 

41–86

42–83

50–88

55–94

 

 Missing

7

     

Gender, n (%)

     

0.356

 Female

 

35 (50.0)

33 (66.0)

17 (56.7)

23 (60.5)

 

 Male

 

35 (50.0)

17 (34.0)

13 (43.3)

15 (39.5)

 

 Missing

3

     

Education, n (%)

     

<0.002

 Primary school or high school (or equivalent)

 

34 (47.9)

33 (66.0)

23 (79.3)

29 (80.6)

 

 University/university college

 

37 (52.1)

17 (34.0)

6 (20.7)

7 (19.4)

 

 Missing

5

     

First languagea, n (%)

     

0.335

 Norwegian

 

64 (88.9)

45 (90.0)

30 (100)

38 (100)

 

 Sami

 

0

0

0

0

 

 Other Nordic language

 

3 (4.2)

1 (2.0)

0

0

 

 Other European language

 

4 (5.6)

4 (8.0)

0

0

 

 Non-European language

 

1 (1.4)

0

0

0

 

 Missing

1

     

Living conditions, n (%)

     

0.396

 Living alone

 

34 (47.2)

30 (60.0)

17 (56.7)

16 (42.1)

 

 Living with a partner

 

29 (40.3)

15 (30.0)

10 (33.3)

20 (52.6)

 

 Living with children aged <18 years

 

7 (9.7)

2 (4.0)

1 (3.3)

1 (2.6)

 

 Living with others

 

2 (2.8)

3 (6.0)

2 (6.7)

1 (2.6)

 

 Missing

1

     

The amount of contact with family or friends, n(%)

     

0.250

 Daily

 

47 (66.2)

22 (44.0)

20 (66.7)

21 (55.3)

 

 Several times a week

 

19 (26.8)

22 (44.0)

8 (26.7)

15 (39.5)

 

 Once a week to once a month

 

5 (7.0)

6 (12.0)

2 (6.7)

2 (5.3)

 

 Less than once a month

 

0

0

0

0

 

 No contact with family or friends

 

0

0

0

0

 

 Missing

2

     

The sufficiency of contact with family or friends, n(%)

     

0.675

 Too often

 

2 (2.9)

1 (2.0)

2 (6.7)

0

 

 Sufficient

 

61 (87.1)

43 (86.0)

23 (76.7)

33 (86.8)

 

 Too seldom

 

7 (10.0)

6 (12.0)

5 (16.7)

5 (13.2)

 

 Missing

3

     

Number of diagnoses, n (%)

     

<0.001

 One diagnosis

 

61 (84.7)

36 (72.0)

11 (36.7)

24 (63.2)

 

 Two or more diagnoses

 

11 (15.3)

14 (28.0)

19 (63.3)

14 (36.8)

 

 Missing

1

     

Type of diagnosisa, n (%)

     

<0.001

 Malign diagnoses (cancer)

 

69 (95.8)

38 (76.0)

17 (56.7)

20 (52.6)

 

 Non-malign diagnoses (e.g. COPD, HF, MS, ALS, Parkinson’s disease)

 

0 (0)

8 (16.0)

8 (26.7)

15 (39.5)

 

 Mixed malign and non-malign diagnosis

 

3 (4.2)

4 (8.0)

5 (16.7)

3 (7.9)

 

 Missing

1

     

Time in care (days), n (%)

     

<0.001

 3–7

 

23 (34.3)

3 (6.3)

5 (20.7)

0

 

 8–30

 

25 (37.3)

7 (14.6)

18 (62.1)

2 (5.7)

 

 31–182 days (1–6 months)

 

9 (13.4)

23 (47.9)

3 (10.3)

13 (37.1)

 

 > 183 (>6 months)

 

10 (14.9)

15 (31.3)

2 (6.0)

20 (57.1)

 

 Missing

12

     

Religious affiliation, n (%)

     

0.345

 No

 

30 (45.5)

24 (52.2)

19 (65.5)

20 (54.1)

 

 Yes

 

36 (54.4)

22 (47.8)

10 (34.5)

17 (45.9)

 

 Missing

13

     

Sense of coherence (SocTotal), mean score (SD)

 

62.56 (11.68)

61.50 (10.00)

60.77 (10.18)

65.41 (12.18)

0.407

 Range

 

29–91

31–84

45–81

42–87

 

 Missing

44

     

Physiological wellbeing, mean score (SD)

 

3.56 (0.93)

3.62 (0.83)

3.23 (1.03)

3.48 (0.96)

0.356

 Missing

21

     

Health-related quality of life (EQ VAS), mean score(SD)

 

47.95 (22.03)

50.49 (21.08)

42.69 (17.16)

48.19 (18.52)

0.480

 Range

 

5–90

0–90

10–85

5–90

 

 Missing

25

     
  1. ALS amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, COPD chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, HF heart failure, MS multiple sclerosis
  2. aFor descriptive purpose only. The numbers of participants in the subgroups are too few to be included in further analysis
  3. P value refers to differences between patients in the four settings measured by one-way between-group ANOVA or Pearson’s χ2 for independence, as appropriate. Statistical significance was assumed at the P <0.025 level
  4. *P value refers to differences between patients within the four settings, measured with Tukey honest significant difference post-hoc comparison. Mean age for hospice inpatient and hospice day care was significantly different from that for home care (<0.001/<0.001)