Characteristics of deceased patients, by advance care planning
| Characteristics | No (%) of subjects* | P value | |
| With advance care planning, n=1487 | Without advance care planning, n=1709 | ||
| Age, years | |||
| Mean±SD | 78.8±14.1 | 78.5±14.0 | 0.507 |
| 18–64 | 289 (19.44) | 325 (19.02) | 0.765 |
| ≥65 | 1198 (80.56) | 1384 (80.98) | |
| Sex | |||
| Female | 650 (43.71) | 727 (42.54) | 0.504 |
| Male | 837 (56.29) | 982 (57.46) | |
| ECOG performance status | |||
| Grade 0 | 148 (9.95) | 175 (10.24) | 0.123 |
| Grade 1 | 170 (11.43) | 205 (12.00) | |
| Grade 2 | 140 (9.41) | 206 (12.05) | |
| Grade 3 | 332 (22.33) | 377 (22.06) | |
| Grade 4 | 697 (46.87) | 746 (43.65) | |
| Heart failure | |||
| None | 1331 (89.51) | 1554 (90.93) | 0.568 |
| Mild | 44 (2.96) | 41 (2.40) | |
| Moderate | 55 (3.70) | 58 (3.39) | |
| Severe | 57 (3.83) | 56 (3.28) | |
| Other comorbidities | |||
| Cancer | 365 (24.55) | 385 (22.53) | 0.179 |
| Liver cirrhosis | 94 (6.32) | 83 (4.86) | 0.071 |
| End-stage renal disease | 74 (4.98) | 96 (5.62) | 0.421 |
| Dementia | 18 (1.21) | 28 (1.64) | 0.311 |
| Frequency of underlying disease exacerbations | |||
| Visited emergency department more than once in the last 30 days | 47 (3.16) | 72 (4.21) | 0.117 |
| Hospitalised more than once in the last 30 days | 34 (2.29) | 36 (2.11) | 0.729 |
| Palliative Care Screening Score | |||
| <4 points | 749 (50.37) | 923 (54.01) | 0.04 |
| ≥4 points | 738 (49.63) | 786 (45.99) | |
| Place of death | |||
| Hospital death | 1389 (93.41) | 1641 (96.02) | <0.001 |
| Home death | 98 (6.59) | 68 (3.98) | |
| Life-sustaining treatments during the last 3 months of life | |||
| Cardiopulmonary resuscitation | 45 (3.03) | 138 (8.07) | <0.001 |
| Intubation and mechanical ventilation support | 154 (10.36) | 303 (17.73) | <0.001 |
*Unless stated otherwise.
ECOG, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group.