ArticleBMJ open2020
Hospitalisation at the end of life among cancer and non-cancer patients in Denmark: a nationwide register-based cohort study.
Article in BMJ open, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Reasons for patients in high income countries accessing hospital care while receiving specialist community palliative care: A systematic review and meta-ethnography.Palliative medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Quality End-of-Life Cancer Care: An Unfulfilled but Achievable Imperative.Current oncology reports · 2025Pooled it
- Assessing the Economic Impact of Cancer Care: A Study on Out-of-Pocket Expenditures and Utilization in South Korea.Cancer medicine · 2025Article
- Hospitalizations and re-hospitalizations at the end-of-life among cancer patients; a retrospective register data study.BMC palliative care · 2024Article
- Healthcare Costs at the End of Life for Patients with Non-cancer Diseases and Cancer in Denmark.PharmacoEconomics - open · 2023Article
- Differences in trends in discharge location in a cohort of hospitalized patients with cancer and non-cancer diagnoses receiving specialist palliative care: A retrospective cohort study.Palliative medicine · 2023Article
- Intensity of care in cancer patients in the last year of life: a retrospective data linkage study.British journal of cancer · 2022Article
- Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesEnd-of-life hospitalisations may not be associated with improved quality of life. Studies indicate differences in end-of-life care for cancer and non-cancer patients; however, data on hospital utilisation are sparse. This study aimed to compare end-of-life hospitalisation and place of death among patients dying from cancer, heart failure or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
designA nationwide register-based cohort study.
settingData on all in-hospital admissions obtained from nationwide Danish medical registries.
participantsAll decedents dying from cancer, heart failure or COPD disease in Denmark between 2006 and 2015. OUTCOME MEASURES: Data on all in-hospital admissions within 6 months and 30 days before death as well as place of death. Comparisons were made according to cause of death while adjusting for age, sex, comorbidity, partner status and residential region.
resultsAmong 154 235 decedents, the median total bed days in hospital within 6 months before death was 19 days for cancer patients, 10 days for patients with heart failure and 11 days for patients with COPD. Within 30 days before death, this was 9 days for cancer patients, and 6 days for patients with heart failure and COPD. Compared with cancer patients, the adjusted relative bed day use was 0.65 (95% CI, 0.63 to 0.68) for heart failure patients and 0.68 (95% CI, 0.66 to 0.69) for patients with COPD within 6 months before death. Correspondingly, this was 0.65 (95% CI, 0.63 to 0.68) and 0.70 (95% CI, 0.68 to 0.71) within 30 days before death.Patients had almost the same risk of dying in hospital independently of death cause (46.2% to 56.0%).
conclusionPatients with cancer, heart failure and COPD all spent considerable part of their end of life in hospital. Hospital use was highest among cancer patients; however, absolute differences were small.
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