Table 3 Baseline characteristics

Male, N (%)

358 (50.4)

109 (51.4)

125 (50.4)

124 (49.4)

0.89^a

Age, mean (SD)

71.6 (12.6)

70.5 (13.4)

72.0 (12.3)

72.0 (12.1)

0.67^b

Diagnosis, N (%)

 Non-malignant diseases

204 (28.7)

44 (20.8)

81 (32.7)

79 (31.5)

0.008^a

WHO/ECOG performance status, N (%)

N = 654

N = 199

N = 216

N = 240

0.05^a

 2: Ambulatory and capable of self-care but unable to carry out any work

140 (21.4)

43 (21.6)

47 (21.8)

50 (21.0)

 3: Capable of only limited self-care: confined to bed/chair more than 50% of waking hours

261 (39.9)

79 (39.7)

76 (35.2)

106 (44.2)

 4: Completely disabled

172 (26.3)

44 (22.1)

62 (28.7)

66 (27.5)

Prognosis, N (%)

N = 693

N = 210

N = 236

N = 248

0.09^a

 Days to weeks

181 (26.1)

47 (22.4)

66 (28)

68 (27.4)

 < 3 months

212 (30.5)

65 (31.0)

62 (26.3)

85 (34.3)

 < 6 months and < 1 year

158 (22.8)

50 (23.8)

64 (27.1)

44 (17.7)

 > 1 year

20 (2.9)

7 (3.3))

6 (2.5)

7 (2.8)

 Difficult to make an estimation

123 (17.7)

41 (19.5)

38 (16.1)

44 (17.7)

Admission department, N (%)

N = 583

N = 156

N = 212

N = 215

 < 0.001^a

 Pulmonology/cardiology

215 (36.9)

47 (30.1)

78 (37.0)

90 (41.7)

 Internal medicine (both malignant and non-malignant internal diseases)

182 (31.2)

68 (43.6)

32 (15.2)

82 (38.0)

 Other^d

186 (31.9)

41 (26.3)

101 (47.9)

43 (20.0)

Reason for consultation

N = 684

N = 201

N = 234

N = 245

 < 0.001^a

 Advance care planning and/or guidance in the upcoming process

331 (43.4)

103 (51.2)

100 (42.6)

128 (51.6)

 Advice on symptoms, medication

129 (18.9)

35 (17.4)

34 (14.5)

60 (24.2)

 Guidance in after care and support system

107 (15.6)

36 (17.9)

30 (12.8)

41 (16.5)

 Guidance/advice in the dying phase

117 (17.1)

27 (13.4)

71 (30.2)

19 (7.7)

Preferred place of death discussed, N (%)

321 (45.1)

115 (54.2)

60 (24.2)

146 (58.2)

0.02^a

 Home

160 (49.8)

64 (55.7)

34 (56.7)

62 (42.5)

 Hospital

21 (6.5)

6 (5.2)

8 (13.3)

7 (4.8)

 Care facility (care home / hospice)

94 (29.3)

29 (25.2)

17 (28.3)

48 (32.9)

 No clear place mentioned

46 (14.3)

16 (13.9)

1 (1.7)

29 (19.9)

Time until death after consultation (days), Median [IQR] N = 557

18.46 [4.62 – 65.77]

26.5 [8.1 – 92.0]

12.3 [3.5 – 47.3]

18.5 [4.6 – 61.2]

0.004^c

Place of death, N (%)

N = 484

N = 118

N = 161

N = 202

0.06^a

 Home

135 (27.9)

30 (25.4)

44 (27.3)

60 (29.7)

 Hospital

250 (51.7)

65 (55.1)

93 (57.8)

90 (44.6)

 Care facility (care home / hospice)

99 (20.5)

7 (5.9)

4 (2.5)

8 (4.0)

Death at place of preference

N = 208

121 (58.2)

N = 61

25 (41,0)

N = 44

26 (59,1)

N = 103

70 (68.0)

0.003^a

Hospital (re)admission within six months after consultation

N = 522

121 (23.2)

N = 171

41 (24.0)

N = 175

43 (24.6)

N = 175

37 (21.1)

0.46^a

Consult with multidisciplinair team meeting, N (%)

547 (76.9)

163 (76.5)

181 (73.0)

203 (81.5)

0.12^a

 At least one of the patients’ own primary care professional attended the multidisciplinair team meeting, N (%)

271 (49.5)

80 (49.1)

129 (71.3)

62 (30.5)

 < 0.001^a

 Patient’s own GP attended the multidisciplinary team meeting, N (%)

151 (23.7)

63 (38.7)

56 (30.9)

32 (15.8)

 < 0.001^a

 Warm handover to GP (by member of palliative care team or ward physician), N (%)

259 (36.5)

81 (34.6)

95 (38.9)

95 (34.7)

0.002^a

Home visit, N (%)

15 (2.9)

1 (0.6)

7 (4.0)

7 (4.0)

0.14^a