Observational studyHealth services research2018
Impact of In-Hospital Death on Spending for Bereaved Spouses.
Observational study in Health services research, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- Informal Caregiving: Health System Cost Implications.Western journal of nursing research · 2025Article
- Patient, caregiver, and oncologist predictions of quality of life in advanced cancer: Accuracy and associations with end-of-life care and caregiver bereavement.Psycho-oncology · 2022Article
- Evaluation of Family Characteristics and Multiple Hospitalizations at the End of Life: Evidence from the Utah Population Database.Journal of palliative medicine · 2022Article
- A national profile of kinlessness at the end of life among older adults: Findings from the Health and Retirement Study.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2021Article
- Educational Attainment and Quality of Life among Older Adults before a Lung Cancer Diagnosis.Journal of palliative medicine · 2020Article
- Update in Hospice and Palliative Care.Journal of palliative medicine · 2020Article
- Spousal Caregivers Are Caregiving Alone In The Last Years Of Life.Health affairs (Project Hope) · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo examine how patients' location of death relates to health care utilization and spending for surviving spouses. DATA SOURCES/STUDY
settingHealth and Retirement Study (HRS) 2000-2012 linked to the Dartmouth Atlas and Medicare claims data. STUDY
designThis was an observational study. We matched bereaved spouses whose spouses died in a hospital to those whose spouses died outside the hospital using propensity scores based on decedent and spouse demographic and clinical characteristics, care preferences, and regional practice patterns. DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION
methodsWe identified 1,348 HRS decedents with surviving spouses. We linked HRS data from each dyad with Medicare claims and regional characteristics. PRINCIPAL
findingsIn multivariable models, bereaved spouses of decedents who died in the hospital had $3,106 higher Medicare spending 12 months postdeath (p = .04) compared to those whose spouses died outside a hospital. Those surviving spouses were also significantly more likely to have an ED visit (OR = 1.5; p < .01) and hospital admission (OR = 1.4; p = .02) in the year after their spouse's in-hospital death. Increased Medicare spending for surviving spouses persisted through the 24-month period postdeath ($5,310; p = .02).
conclusionsBereaved spouses of decedents who died in the hospital had significantly greater Medicare spending and health care utilization themselves after their spouses' death.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.