ArticlePalliative medicine2024
Reduction in potentially inappropriate end-of-life hospital care for cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic: A retrospective population-based study.
Article in Palliative medicine, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.
- Death Anxiety During the Last Year of Life in Patients With Advanced Cancer: Longitudinal Results From the eQuiPe Study.Psycho-oncology · 2026Observational
- Patients' and relatives' perspectives on the quality of end-of-Life care in advanced cancer: From the final months to bereavement.PloS one · 2026Article
- The End-of-Life Experiences of Cancer Patients' Families in a Tertiary Hospital Providing Palliative Care Consultation During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Journal of hospice and palliative care · 2025Article
- Socioeconomic disparities in health-related quality of life and healthcare use in the last year of life of patients with advanced cancer: longitudinal results from the eQuiPe study.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Observational
- Potentially Inappropriate End of Life Care and Healthcare Costs in the Last 30 Days of Life in Regions Providing Integrated Palliative Care in the Netherlands: A Registration-based Study.International journal of integrated careArticle
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 7 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic impacted cancer diagnosis and treatment. However, little is known about end-of-life cancer care during the pandemic.
aimTo investigate potentially inappropriate end-of-life hospital care for cancer patients before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
designRetrospective population-based cohort study using data from the Netherlands Cancer Registry and the Dutch National Hospital Care Registration. Potentially inappropriate care in the last month of life (chemotherapy administration, >1 emergency room contact, >1 hospitalization, hospitalization >14 days, intensive care unit admission or hospital death) was compared between four COVID-19 periods and corresponding periods in 2018/2019.
participantsA total of 112,919 cancer patients (⩾18 years) who died between January 2018 and May 2021 were included.
resultsFewer patients received potentially inappropriate end-of-life care during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to previous years, especially during the first COVID-19 peak (22.4% vs 26.0%). Regression analysis showed lower odds of potentially inappropriate end-of-life care during all COVID-19 periods (between OR 0.81; 95% CI 0.74-0.88 and OR 0.92; 95% CI 0.87-0.97) after adjustment for age, sex and cancer type. For the individual indicators, fewer patients experienced multiple or long hospitalizations, intensive care unit admission or hospital death during the pandemic.
conclusionsCancer patients received less potentially inappropriate end-of-life care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because several factors may have contributed, it is unclear whether this reflects better quality care. However, these findings raise important questions about what pandemic-induced changes in care practices can help provide appropriate end-of-life care for future patients in the context of increasing patient numbers and limited resources.
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