Disparities in intensity of treatment at end-of-life among children according to the underlying cause of death
Title
Disparities in intensity of treatment at end-of-life among children according to the underlying cause of death
Creator
Wolff S; Christiansen CF; Johnsen SP; Schroeder S; Darlington AS; Neergaard MA
Identifier
Publisher
Acta Paediatrica
Date
2021
Subject
children; palliative care; end-of-life; place of death; treatment intensity
Description
Aim: To compare indicators of high-intensity treatment at end-of-life (HI-EOL) among children according to causes of death. Method(s): We conducted a nationwide registry study in Denmark among 938 children of 1-17 years of age who died from natural causes from 2006 to 2016. We identified and compared indicators of HI-EOL within the last month of life across diagnoses. Indicators were hospital admissions, days in hospital, intensive care unit admission, mechanical ventilation, and hospital death. Result(s): Proportions of each indicator of HI-EOL ranged from 27% to 75%. The most common indicators were hospital death (75%) and ICU admission (39%). Compared to children with solid tumours, children with non-cancerous conditions had an adjusted odds ratio of 3.5 (95% CI 2.1-5.9) of having >=3 indicators of HI-EOL within the last month of life and children with haematological cancer had an odds ratio of 11.8 (95% CI 6.1-23.0). Conclusion(s): The underlying diagnosis was strongly associated with HI-EOL. Children who died from solid tumours experienced substantially less intensive treatment than both children with haematological cancer and non-cancerous conditions did. Across non-cancerous diagnoses, the intensity of treatment appeared consistent, which may indicate, that the awareness of palliative care is higher among oncologists than within other paediatric fields. Copyright ©2020 Foundation Acta Paediatrica. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Rights
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
Citation List Month
April 2021 List
URL Address
Collection
Citation
Wolff S; Christiansen CF; Johnsen SP; Schroeder S; Darlington AS; Neergaard MA, “Disparities in intensity of treatment at end-of-life among children according to the underlying cause of death,” Pediatric Palliative Care Library, accessed April 24, 2024, https://pedpalascnetlibrary.omeka.net/items/show/17522.