Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37907903›Full record

ArticleBMC health services research2023

Factors associated with emergency admission for people dying from cancer in Northern Ireland: an observational data linkage study.

H Mitchell, V Cairnduff, S O'Hare, L Simpson, R White, A T Gavin

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC health services research, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
1.2field-weighted citation impact, top 20% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

H MitchellCentre for Public Health, Northern Ireland Cancer Registry, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. helen.mitchell@qub.ac.uk.
V CairnduffCentre for Public Health, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.
S O'HareCentre for Public Health, Northern Ireland Cancer Registry, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.
L SimpsonCentre for Public Health, Northern Ireland Cancer Registry, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.
R WhiteMacmillan Cancer Support, London, England, United Kingdom.
A T GavinCentre for Public Health, Northern Ireland Cancer Registry, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.
The Northern Ireland Cancer Centre · GBMacmillan Cancer Support · GBQueen's University Belfast · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMany people living with cancer are admitted as an emergency, some just prior to diagnosis and others in their last year of life. Factors associated with accessing emergency care for people dying of cancer are complex and not well understood. This can make it difficult to have the resources and staffing in place to best care for individuals in their last year of life and their families.

methodsThis study uses routinely collected administrative data from people who died of cancer in N. Ireland (NI) during 2015 and explores how personal characteristics (e.g., gender, age) and disease related factors (e.g., tumour site, cancer stage at initial diagnosis) were associated with having an emergency admission to hospital in the last year and the last 28 days of their lives, using multivariate logistic regression.

resultsAlmost three in four people had at least one emergency admission in the last year of life, and over one in three had an emergency admission the last 28 days of life. Patterns were similar for both time outcomes with males, people with haematological, lung or brain cancers, younger persons, those diagnosed with late-stage cancer, and people diagnosed close to time of death, being significantly more likely to have an emergency admission. While there was no significant association between deprivation and emergency admission rates, those living in urban areas were more likely to have an emergency admission in their last month of life compared to rural dwellers. Late diagnosis was evident with 538 people (12.8% of all deaths from cancer) being diagnosed within one month of death and 1242 (29%) within 3 months of death.

conclusionThe high level of emergency admissions points to gaps in routine end-of-life care, and the need for additional training for hospital staff including frontline emergency department (ED) staff who are often the 'gatekeepers' to emergency inpatient care for people living with cancer. The levels of late diagnosis indicate a need for increased population awareness of cancer symptoms and system change to promote earlier diagnosis.

Indexed as

NeoplasmsTerminal CareEmergency Service, HospitalFemaleHospitalizationHumansMaleNorthern IrelandRetrospective StudiesCancerEmergency admissionsEnd of life carePreferred place of death

Identifiers

PMID37907903
PMCPMC10617099
OpenAlexW4388043919

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.