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Table 2 Differences in the utilization of medical services before and after the provision of palliative care

From: Palliative care for nursing home patients with dementia: service evaluation and risk factors of mortality

Characteristics (Average number per month)

Pre-palliative-care stageb (N = 57)

Post-palliative-care stagec (N = 57)

Statisticsa

 

Mean (SD)

Mean (SD)

 

The departments visited

2.23 (0.96)

0.07 (0.26)

P < 0.001

Number of medications

7.84 (3.04)

5.39 (2.51)

P < 0.001

Number of hospitalizations

1.42 (1.45)

0.07 (0.32)

P < 0.001

Length of stay (days)

19.72 (22.74)

0.56 (3.21)

P < 0.001

Length of stay of ICU admissions (days)

1.49 (5.82)

0.00 (0.00)

P = 0.058

Number of visits on emergency department

0.39 (0.82)

0.02 (0.13)

P = 0.001

  1. aBased on paired t test
  2. bThe average period of contribution in months (SD) in the prepalliative care stage: 10.53 (3.25)
  3. cThe average period of contribution in months (SD) in the postpalliative care stage: 9.07 (8.73)