ArticleJournal of racial and ethnic health disparities2026
At the End of Life: The Impact and Disparities of Palliative Care Utilization Among Deceased Gastric Cancer Patients in US Hospitals.
Article in Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveThe objective of this study was to analyze the characteristics and utilization patterns of palliative care at the end of life among deceased gastric cancer patients, using a large-scale, representative population-based sample from US hospitals.
methodsA retrospective analysis was conducted on hospitalization data from the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) covering January 2016 to December 2019. The study population was identified and classified using ICD-10 codes. The objective was to examine the characteristics and disparities related to the provision of palliative care to deceased gastric cancer patients and to assess its impact on healthcare utilization, particularly total hospital charges and length of stay (LOS). Multivariate linear and logistic regression analyses were performed, with the data stratified by age, race, Charlson Comorbidity Index, insurance status, median household income, and hospital characteristics. A P-value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
resultsWe identified 33,525 hospitalizations involving patients with gastric cancer. Among these, we identified 2475 gastric cancer patients who died in-patient, of whom 58.38% (n = 1445) received palliative care during their hospital stay at the end of their life. Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that the group receiving palliative care had significantly lower total charges ($108,144 vs. $151,425), with a mean decrease of $43,652 (95% CI - $61,441 to - $25,863, P < 0.001) compared to the group not receiving palliative care. However, there was no statistically significant difference in the adjusted length of stay between patients who received palliative care and those who did not (coefficient = - 1.00 days, 95% CI - 2.10 to 0.98, P = 0.074). Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that patients of Black race had lower odds of receiving palliative care compared to White patients. Patients with private insurance had higher odds of receiving palliative care compared to those with Medicare. There was no statistically significant difference in receiving palliative care based on hospital size, teaching status, or median household income.
conclusionThis study reveals a significant impact and disparities in the provision of palliative care among deceased gastric cancer patients. Those who received palliative care had notably lower total hospital charges, though there was no significant difference in length of stay. Black patients and those with Medicare were less likely to receive palliative care. These findings emphasize the need for targeted interventions to ensure equitable access to palliative care. Future research should investigate the root causes of these disparities and develop strategies to enhance palliative care delivery across diverse patient populations.
Indexed as
Identifiers
40563062What 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.