Drugs for symptom control | Drugs for common symptoms* | |||||||||||||||
Drugs for anxiety, delirium and agitation | Drugs for nausea and vomiting | Drugs for noisy respiratory secretions | Drugs for pain | Drugs for anxiety, delirium and agitation | Drugs for nausea and vomiting | Drugs for noisy respiratory secretions | Drugs for pain | |||||||||
N† | (%)‡ | N† | (%)‡ | N† | (%)‡ | N† | (%)‡ | N† | (%)‡ | N† | (%)‡ | N† | (%)‡ | N† | (%)‡ | |
Total | 16 534 | 28.7 | 27 203 | 47.2 | 15 568 | 27.0 | 52 403 | 90.9 | 32 810 | 56.9 | 12 484 | 21.7 | 14 125 | 24.5 | 34 244 | 59.4 |
Sex | ||||||||||||||||
Male | 8895 | 28.9 | 13 587 | 44.1 | 8128 | 26.4 | 27 759 | 90.2 | 17 338 | 56.3 | 6343 | 20.6 | 7412 | 24.1 | 17 984 | 58.4 |
Female | 7639 | 28.5 | 13 616 | 50.7 | 7440 | 27.7 | 24 644 | 91.8 | 15 472 | 57.6 | 6141 | 22.9 | 6713 | 25.0 | 16 260 | 60.6 |
P value* | 0.26 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | 0.001 | <0.001 | 0.01 | <0.001 | ||||||||
Age at death | ||||||||||||||||
Less than 60 | 1951 | 37.5 | 2792 | 53.7 | 1482 | 28.5 | 4758 | 91.5 | 2975 | 57.2 | 1242 | 23.9 | 1307 | 25.1 | 3192 | 61.4 |
60–69 | 3146 | 33.7 | 4826 | 51.7 | 2623 | 28.1 | 8591 | 92.0 | 5389 | 57.7 | 2080 | 22.3 | 2326 | 24.9 | 5672 | 60.8 |
70–79 | 5427 | 31.3 | 8594 | 49.5 | 4808 | 27.7 | 15 875 | 91.5 | 10 097 | 58.2 | 3815 | 22.0 | 4343 | 25.0 | 10 553 | 60.8 |
80–89 | 4669 | 24.4 | 8467 | 44.2 | 4988 | 26.0 | 17 292 | 90.2 | 10 778 | 56.2 | 4033 | 21.0 | 4602 | 24.0 | 11 195 | 58.4 |
90 and over | 1341 | 20.4 | 2524 | 38.4 | 1667 | 25.4 | 5887 | 89.5 | 3571 | 54.3 | 1314 | 20.0 | 1547 | 23.5 | 3632 | 55.2 |
P value* | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | 0.03 | <0.001 | ||||||||
Ethnicity | ||||||||||||||||
White | 15 343 | 29.0 | 25 129 | 47.5 | 14 300 | 27.1 | 48 221 | 91.2 | 30 299 | 57.3 | 11 567 | 21.9 | 12 963 | 24.5 | 31 658 | 59.9 |
Non-white | 511 | 22.6 | 969 | 42.9 | 500 | 22.1 | 1980 | 87.6 | 1081 | 47.8 | 377 | 16.7 | 439 | 19.4 | 1112 | 49.2 |
Not stated or not known | 680 | 27.0 | 1105 | 44.0 | 768 | 30.5 | 2202 | 87.6 | 1430 | 56.9 | 540 | 21.5 | 723 | 28.8 | 1474 | 58.6 |
P value* | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | ||||||||
Time elapsed between cancer diagnosis and date of death | ||||||||||||||||
Less than 6 months | 2612 | 21.9 | 4587 | 38.5 | 2767 | 23.2 | 10 145 | 85.2 | 5919 | 49.7 | 2128 | 17.9 | 2498 | 21.0 | 6163 | 51.8 |
6 months to 1 year | 2362 | 31.3 | 3824 | 50.7 | 2206 | 29.2 | 7027 | 93.1 | 4576 | 60.6 | 1753 | 23.2 | 2016 | 26.7 | 4778 | 63.3 |
1 to 2 years | 2692 | 31.7 | 4269 | 50.2 | 2373 | 27.9 | 7875 | 92.6 | 5022 | 59.1 | 1938 | 22.8 | 2156 | 25.4 | 5243 | 61.7 |
2 to 5 years | 3941 | 31.1 | 6313 | 49.8 | 3566 | 28.1 | 11 709 | 92.4 | 7445 | 58.8 | 2889 | 22.8 | 3209 | 25.3 | 7785 | 61.4 |
5 to 10 years | 2391 | 30.2 | 4002 | 50.5 | 2223 | 28.1 | 7337 | 92.7 | 4679 | 59.1 | 1817 | 22.9 | 2012 | 25.4 | 4858 | 61.4 |
10 to 15 years | 1029 | 29.3 | 1658 | 47.2 | 959 | 27.3 | 3229 | 91.8 | 1995 | 56.7 | 771 | 21.9 | 871 | 24.8 | 2106 | 59.9 |
More than 15 years | 1507 | 27.1 | 2550 | 45.8 | 1474 | 26.5 | 5081 | 91.2 | 3174 | 57.0 | 1188 | 21.3 | 1363 | 24.5 | 3311 | 59.4 |
P value* | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | ||||||||
Stage at cancer diagnosis | ||||||||||||||||
1 | 1121 | 29.4 | 1753 | 45.9 | 1050 | 27.5 | 3481 | 91.2 | 2142 | 56.1 | 825 | 21.6 | 963 | 25.2 | 2246 | 58.8 |
2 | 1498 | 28.1 | 2582 | 48.4 | 1430 | 26.8 | 4914 | 92.1 | 3042 | 57.0 | 1151 | 21.6 | 1302 | 24.4 | 3208 | 60.1 |
3 | 2647 | 31.0 | 4377 | 51.2 | 2376 | 27.8 | 7876 | 92.1 | 4933 | 57.7 | 1984 | 23.2 | 2119 | 24.8 | 5164 | 60.4 |
4 | 6365 | 30.1 | 10 484 | 49.6 | 5939 | 28.1 | 19 475 | 92.2 | 12 227 | 57.9 | 4663 | 22.1 | 5368 | 25.4 | 12 827 | 60.7 |
Unknown | 4903 | 26.1 | 8007 | 42.6 | 4773 | 25.4 | 16 657 | 88.6 | 10 466 | 55.6 | 3861 | 20.5 | 4373 | 23.2 | 10 799 | 57.4 |
P value* | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | ||||||||
Cancer site at diagnosis | ||||||||||||||||
Trachea, bronchus and lung | 4354 | 34.5 | 5200 | 41.2 | 3139 | 24.9 | 11 526 | 91.3 | 6843 | 54.2 | 2319 | 18.4 | 2937 | 23.3 | 7037 | 55.7 |
Prostate | 1119 | 23.2 | 2080 | 43.1 | 1215 | 25.2 | 4449 | 92.1 | 2716 | 56.2 | 998 | 20.7 | 1147 | 23.7 | 2847 | 58.9 |
Breast | 1122 | 28.8 | 1807 | 46.4 | 1013 | 26.0 | 3558 | 91.4 | 2213 | 56.9 | 815 | 20.9 | 970 | 24.9 | 2316 | 59.5 |
Colorectal | 1957 | 26.2 | 3768 | 50.5 | 2307 | 30.9 | 6822 | 91.4 | 4386 | 58.7 | 1729 | 23.2 | 1952 | 26.1 | 4630 | 62.0 |
Unknown primary | 628 | 26.8 | 1073 | 45.8 | 630 | 26.9 | 2114 | 90.2 | 1301 | 55.5 | 503 | 21.5 | 567 | 24.2 | 1380 | 58.9 |
Pancreas | 926 | 27.6 | 2014 | 60.0 | 1110 | 33.1 | 3112 | 92.8 | 2036 | 60.7 | 875 | 26.1 | 928 | 27.7 | 2173 | 64.8 |
Oesophagus | 742 | 29.5 | 1511 | 60.2 | 686 | 27.3 | 2297 | 91.4 | 1411 | 56.2 | 610 | 24.3 | 612 | 24.4 | 1491 | 59.4 |
Bladder | 423 | 22.8 | 761 | 41.1 | 499 | 26.9 | 1697 | 91.6 | 1 012 | 54.6 | 356 | 19.2 | 435 | 23.5 | 1062 | 57.3 |
Liver and intrahepatic bile ducts | 469 | 25.3 | 973 | 52.5 | 517 | 27.9 | 1670 | 90.0 | 1 092 | 58.9 | 420 | 22.6 | 465 | 25.1 | 1136 | 61.2 |
Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma | 347 | 24.7 | 549 | 39.1 | 317 | 22.6 | 1216 | 86.5 | 725 | 51.6 | 265 | 18.9 | 300 | 21.4 | 749 | 53.3 |
Other | 4447 | 28.7 | 7 467 | 48.2 | 4 135 | 26.7 | 13 942 | 90.0 | 9 075 | 58.6 | 3594 | 23.2 | 3812 | 24.6 | 9423 | 60.8 |
P value* | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | ||||||||
Income domain of the IMD§ | ||||||||||||||||
1—least deprived | 3286 | 30.3 | 5404 | 49.8 | 3196 | 29.5 | 9838 | 90.7 | 6592 | 60.8 | 2643 | 24.4 | 2 953 | 27.2 | 6810 | 62.8 |
2 | 3655 | 29.5 | 6067 | 49.0 | 3499 | 28.2 | 11 328 | 91.4 | 7385 | 59.6 | 2895 | 23.4 | 3183 | 25.7 | 7667 | 61.9 |
3 | 3473 | 29.1 | 5724 | 48.0 | 3181 | 26.7 | 10 873 | 91.1 | 6830 | 57.2 | 2685 | 22.5 | 2872 | 24.1 | 7186 | 60.2 |
4 | 3081 | 27.4 | 5113 | 45.5 | 2872 | 25.5 | 10 139 | 90.1 | 6150 | 54.7 | 2290 | 20.4 | 2588 | 23.0 | 6417 | 57.1 |
5—most deprived | 3039 | 27.1 | 4895 | 43.7 | 2820 | 25.1 | 10 225 | 91.2 | 5853 | 52.2 | 1971 | 17.6 | 2529 | 22.6 | 6164 | 55.0 |
P value* | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | 0.01 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 |
Online supplemental table A4 presents the overall groups.
*The p value represents the results for the likelihood ratio test for each variable by drug prescribed.
†Number of people who died.
‡Proportion of those who died within each individual characteristic category .
§Index of Multiple Deprivation.