Palliative Care Utilization in Nontraumatic Intracerebral Hemorrhage in the United States

Intracerebral Hemorrhage Outcomes in Patients with Systemic Cancer

BACKGROUND

Single-center studies suggest that patients with cancer have similar outcomes after intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) compared to patients without cancer. However, these studies were limited by small sample sizes and high rates of intratumoral hemorrhage. Our hypothesis was that systemic cancer patients without brain involvement fare worse after ICH than patients without cancer.

METHODS

We identified all patients diagnosed with spontaneous ICH from 2002 to 2011 in the Nationwide Inpatient Sample. Our predictor variable was systemic cancer. Our primary outcome was discharge disposition, dichotomized into favorable discharge (home/self-care or rehabilitation) or unfavorable discharge (nursing facility, hospice, or death). We used logistic regression to compare outcomes and performed secondary analyses by cancer subtype (i.e., nonmetastatic solid tumors, nonmetastatic hematologic tumors, and metastatic solid or hematologic tumors).

RESULTS

Among 597,046 identified ICH patients, 22,394 (3.8%) had systemic cancer. Stroke risk factors such as hypertension and diabetes were more common in patients without cancer, whereas anticoagulant use and higher Charlson comorbidity scores were more common among cancer patients. In multivariate logistic regression analysis adjusted for demographics, comorbidities, and hospital-level characteristics, patients with cancer had higher odds of death (OR 1.62, 95% CI 1.56-1.69) and lower odds of favorable discharge (OR .59, 95% CI .56-.63) than patients without cancer. Among cancer groups, patients with nonmetastatic hematologic tumors and those with metastatic disease fared the worst.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with systemic cancer have higher mortality and less favorable discharge outcomes after ICH than patients without cancer. Cancer subtype may influence outcomes after ICH.

Use of Palliative Care in Patients With End-Stage COPD and Receiving Home Oxygen: National Trends and Barriers to Care in the United States

BACKGROUND

To investigate the use of palliative care (PC) in patients with end-stage COPD receiving home oxygen hospitalized for an exacerbation.

METHODS

A retrospective nationwide cohort analysis was performed, using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample. All patients ≥ 18 years of age with a diagnosis of COPD, receiving home oxygen, and admitted for an exacerbation were included.

RESULTS

A total of 55,208,382 hospitalizations from the 2006-2012 Nationwide Inpatient Sample were examined. There were 181,689 patients with COPD, receiving home oxygen, and admitted for an exacerbation; 3,145 patients (1.7%) also had a PC contact. There was a 4.5-fold relative increase in PC referral from 2006 (0.45%) to 2012 (2.56%) (P < .01). Patients receiving PC consultations compared with those who did not were older (75.0 years [SD 10.9] vs 70.6 years [SD 9.7]; P < .01), had longer hospitalizations (4.9 days [interquartile range, 2.6-8.2] vs 3.5 days [interquartile range, 2.1-5.6]), and more likely to die in hospital (32.1% vs 1.5%; P < .01). Race was significantly associated with referral to palliative care, with white patients referred more often than minorities (P < .01). Factors associated with PC referral included age (OR, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.02-1.04; P < .01), metastatic cancer (OR, 2.40; 95% CI, 2.02-2.87; P < .01), nonmetastatic cancer (OR, 2.75; 95% CI, 2.43-3.11; P < .01), invasive mechanical ventilation (OR, 4.89; 95% CI, 4.31-5.55; P < .01), noninvasive mechanical ventilation (OR, 2.84; 95% CI, 2.58-3.12; P < .01), and Do Not Resuscitate status (OR, 7.95; 95% CI, 7.29-8.67; P < .01).

CONCLUSIONS

The use of PC increased dramatically during the study period; however, PC contact occurs only in a minority of patients with end-stage COPD admitted with an exacerbation.