Table 2

Characteristics of Nova Scotians by receipt of home visits during the end-of-life, 1992–1997

Characteristic
Home visit receipt; No. (and %) of adult Nova Scotians*



No home visit n = 3947
At least one home visit n = 3265

Neighbourhood income quintile


Lower
1029 (60.0)
685 (40.0)
Lower middle
866 (58.4)
618 (41.6)
Middle
747 (51.5)
704 (48.5)
Upper middle
676 (52.3)
610 (47.4)
Upper
399 (45.2)
483 (54.8)

Sex


Male
2323 (56.9)
1763 (43.2)
Female
1624 (52.0)
1502 (48.1)

Year of death


1992
643 (56.3)
499 (43.7)
1993
637 (54.8)
525 (45.2)
1994
655 (52.7)
588 (47.3)
1995
648 (52.1)
597 (48.0)
1996
679 (54.7)
562 (45.3)
1997
685 (58.1)
494 (41.9)

Age group§


< 65 years
968 (55.6)
772 (44.4)
65–74 years
1165 (54.2)
986 (45.8)
75+ years
1814 (54.6)
1507 (45.4)

Cancer case of death


Lung
2094 (57.0)
1580 (43.0)
Colorectal
674 (55.1)
549 (44.9)
Breast
629 (50.6)
614 (49.4)
Prostate
550 (51.3)
522 (48.7)

Survival time


<61 days
935 (78.4)
258 (21.6)
61–120 days
307 (49.8)
310 (50.2)
121–180+ days
2705 (50.1)
2697 (49.9)

Region of residency


Halifax regional municipality
1082 (47.2)
1211 (52.8)
All other regions of Nova Scotia
2855 (58.2)
2049 (41.8)

Visit within a long term care center (LTC)


None
3421 (53.6)
2968 (46.5)
At least one LTC visit
526 (63.9)
297 (36.1)

Specialty visits


0–2
1066 (57.5)
789 (42.5)
3–6
1025 (54.4)
859 (45.6)
7–13
736 (54.8)
608 (45.2)
14+
1120 (52.6)
1009 (47.4)

Total days as hospital inpatient


0
568 (55.4)
458 (44.6)
1–12
1247 (55.3)
1007 (44.7)
13–31
1132 (52.0)
1044 (48.0)
32+
1000 (57.0)
756 (43.1)

Admission to palliative care program


No
3342 (59.2)
2301 (40.8)
Yes
605 (38.6)
964 (61.4)

Received palliative radiation


No
3085 (56.8)
2346 (43.2)
Yes
862 (48.4)
919 (51.6)

* Total number of patients by characteristic may vary due to missing values. Proportions are row percentages and may total more than 100 due to rounding.

Characteristic is associated with receipt of home visit (p < 0.001)

Characteristic is associated with receipt of home visits (p < 0.05)

§No significant association demonstrated

Burge et al. BMC Palliative Care 2005 4:1   doi:10.1186/1472-684X-4-1