PF* last 24 h of life (N=120) | No PF* last 24 h of life (N=131) | Statistical differences between groups | PF* last 7 days† of life (N=193) | No PF* last 7 days† of life (N=58) | Statistical differences between groups | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Median (IQR) | Median (IQR) | Median (IQR) | Median (IQR) | |||
Age (years) | 80 (14.5) | 80 (14) | NS | 80 (14) | 80 (15) | NS |
Length of stay (days) | 7 (14) | 10 (15) | 0.002 | 7 (11) | 17.5 (27) | <0.001 |
N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | |||
Sex | ||||||
Women | 62 (52) | 64 (49) | NS | 98 (51) | 28 (48) | NS |
Men | 58 (48) | 67 (51) | NS | 95 (49) | 30 (52) | NS |
Diagnosis | ||||||
Heart disease | 20 (17) | 21 (16) | NS | 31 (16) | 10 (17) | NS |
Lung disease | 6 (5) | 10 (8) | NS | 11 (6) | 5 (9) | NS |
Cancer | 52 (43) | 47 (36) | NS | 76 (39) | 23 (40) | NS |
Miscellaneous | 42 (35) | 53 (40) | NS | 75 (39) | 20 (34) | NS |
Treatment-limiting decision‡ | 108 (90) | 125 (95) | NS | 177 (92) | 56 (97) | NS |
Died in an ICU§ | 15 (12.5) | 0 (0) | <0.001 | 15 (8) | 0 (0) | <0.001 |
*PF, parenteral fluids, which include clear liquids, nutrition solutions, drug infusions and blood products.
†168 h.
‡A treatment-limiting decision saying ‘no cardiopulmonary resuscitation’, ‘no invasive respiration therapy’ and/or ‘strict palliative care’ were documented by a physician.
§ICU, intensive care unit, including intermediate intensive care.