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Table 2 Comparison of characteristics between the ‘Full active ICU care’ cohort and the ‘EOLC’ cohort

From: Quality of transition to end-of-life care for cancer patients in the intensive care unit

Characteristic

Full active ICU care n = 47

EOLC n = 38

P value

Age, median (range) in years

59 (19–88)

66.5 (28–81)

0.017

Gender, n (%)

M 21 (44.7%)

M 19 (50.0%)

0.62

F 26 (55.3%)

F 19 (50.0%)

APACHE II score median (range)

16 (5–31)

21 (10–47)

<0.0001

Type of cancer, n (%)

 Solid tumour

35 (74.5%)

24 (63.2%)

0.26

 Haematological tumour

12 (25.5%)

14 (36.8%)

0.26

Stage of disease, n (%)*

 No known spread

7 (14.9%)

6 (15.8%)

0.92

 Local spread (spread to neighbouring tissues)

7 (14.9%)

2 (5.3%)

0.14

 Nodal spread (spread to lymph nodes)

7 (14.9%)

5 (13.2%)

0.82

 Distant metastases

23 (48.9%)

21 (55.3%)

0.47

Cancer treatment, n (%)

 Chemotherapy

32 (68%)

29 (76.3%)

0.4

 Radiotherapy

11 (23.4%)

4 (10.5)

0.16

 Palliative treatment (definitions in text)

19 (43.1%)

17 (44.7%)

0.69

 Curative treatment (definitions in text)

22 (46.8%)

16 (42.1%)

0.66

 No treatment

6 (12.8%)

3 (7.9%)

0.51

Reason for ICU admission, n (%)**

 Respiratory failure

19 (40.4%)

17 (44.7%)

0.69

 Renal failure

10 (21.3%)

9 (23.7%)

0.79

 Cardiac

7 (14.9%)

3 (7.9%)

0.5

 Sepsis

11 (23.4%)

12 (31.6%)

0.4

 Neurology

2 (4.3%)

1 (2.6%)

0.69

 Other

8 (17.0%)

7 (18.4%)

0.73

Time of referral to ICU, n (%)

 Out of hours

22 (46.8%)

16 (42.1%)

0.82

 Weekend

11 (23.4%)

6 (15.8%)

0.55

Organ support required during ICU stay, n (%)

 Invasive ventilation

6 (12.8%)

17 (44.7%)

0.001

 Vasopressors

13 (27.7%)

21 (55.3%)

0.014

 Renal replacement therapy (RRT)

4 (8.5%)

11 (28.9%)

0.021

 Non-invasive ventilation (NIV)

9 (19.1%)

12 (31.6%)

0.19

Baseline performance status documented, n (%)

18 (38.3%)

16 (45.7%)

0.72

Need for symptom control in ICU, n (%)

27 (57.0%)

27 (71.0%)

0.19

Seen by palliative care in ICU, n (%)

7 (19.1%)

20 (52.6%)

0.001

Cancer prognosis documented prior to ICU, n (%)

10 (21.2%)

4 (10.5%)

0.15

  1. Statistically significant variables are in italics
  2. * 3 patients in ‘full active ICU care’ cohort and 4 patients in ‘EOLC’ cohort had leukaemia and therefore were excluded from this analysis.
  3. ** Some patients had more than one reason for admission hence total numbers greater than 100% per cohort.