ArticleBMC health services research2012
Referral patterns and proximity to palliative care inpatient services by level of socio-economic disadvantage. A national study using spatial analysis.
Article in BMC health services research, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The application of spatial measures to analyse health service accessibility in Australia: a systematic review and recommendations for future practice.BMC health services research · 2023Pooled it
- Hospice care access inequalities: a systematic review and narrative synthesis.BMJ supportive & palliative care · 2022Pooled it
- Identification of patients with potential palliative care needs: A systematic review of screening tools in primary care.Palliative medicine · 2020Pooled it
- End-of-Life Cancer Care Resource Utilisation in Rural Versus Urban Settings: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Pooled it
- Hospice referral patterns in India during COVID-19: A retrospective study on advanced cancer patients.BMC palliative care · 2026Article
- Evaluating Palliative Care Needs in Patients with Advanced Non-Malignant Chronic Conditions: An Umbrella Review of Needs Assessment Tools.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- A modified world café approach to identify the core components of palliative care models for underserved populations.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Telehealth-facilitated palliative care enables more people to die at home: An analysis of clinical outcomes and service activity data.BMC palliative care · 2025Article
- A National Quality Initiative to Improve Palliative Care Outcomes: Identifying Enabling Factors that Drive Quality Improvement.Palliative medicine reports · 2025Article
- Does Geography Play a Role in the Receipt of End-of-Life Care for Advanced Cancer Patients? Evidence from an Australian Local Health District Population-Based Study.Journal of palliative medicine · 2023Article
- Facilitating equitable access to hospice care in socially deprived areas: A mixed methods multiple case study.Palliative medicine · 2023Article
- Population-level, patient-reported outcomes: a case study regarding a public health intervention that involves patients with life-limiting illnesses.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- A retrospective study on use of palliative care for patients with alcohol related end stage liver disease in United States.World journal of hepatology · 2022Article
- Population's Potential Accessibility to Specialized Palliative Care Services: A Comparative Study in Three European Countries.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Socio-Economic Deprivation and Symptom Burden in UK Hospice Patients with Advanced Cancer-Findings from a Longitudinal Study.Cancers · 2021Article
- Coverage of cancer services in Australia and providers' views on service gaps: findings from a national cross-sectional survey.BMC cancer · 2019Article
- Urban and rural differences in geographical accessibility to inpatient palliative and end-of-life (PEoLC) facilities and place of death: a national population-based study in England, UK.International journal of health geographics · 2019Observational
- Integrative oncology and complementary medicine cancer services in Australia: findings from a national cross-sectional survey.BMC complementary and alternative medicine · 2018Article
- Opportunity is the greatest barrier to providing palliative care to advanced colorectal cancer patients: a survey of oncology clinicians.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2018Article
- Measuring geographical accessibility to palliative and end of life (PEoLC) related facilities: a comparative study in an area with well-developed specialist palliative care (SPC) provision.BMC palliative care · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundA range of health outcomes at a population level are related to differences in levels of social disadvantage. Understanding the impact of any such differences in palliative care is important. The aim of this study was to assess, by level of socio-economic disadvantage, referral patterns to specialist palliative care and proximity to inpatient services.
methodsAll inpatient and community palliative care services nationally were geocoded (using postcode) to one nationally standardised measure of socio-economic deprivation - Socio-Economic Index for Areas (SEIFA; 2006 census data). Referral to palliative care services and characteristics of referrals were described through data collected routinely at clinical encounters. Inpatient location was measured from each person's home postcode, and stratified by socio-economic disadvantage.
resultsThis study covered July - December 2009 with data from 10,064 patients. People from the highest SEIFA group (least disadvantaged) were significantly less likely to be referred to a specialist palliative care service, likely to be referred closer to death and to have more episodes of inpatient care for longer time. Physical proximity of a person's home to inpatient care showed a gradient with increasing distance by decreasing levels of socio-economic advantage.
conclusionThese data suggest that a simple relationship of low socioeconomic status and poor access to a referral-based specialty such as palliative care does not exist. Different patterns of referral and hence different patterns of care emerge.
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