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Table 2 Characteristics of Nova Scotians by receipt of home visits during the end-of-life, 1992–1997

From: Home visits by family physicians during the end-of-life: Does patient income or residence play a role?

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)

  1. * 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.
  2. †Characteristic is associated with receipt of home visit (p < 0.001)
  3. ‡Characteristic is associated with receipt of home visits (p < 0.05)
  4. §No significant association demonstrated