Association of disease trajectory and place of care with end-of-life burdensome transitions: a retrospective cohort study

Objectives — End-of-life (EOL) transitions to hospital can be burdensome for older adults and may contribute to poor outcomes. We investigated the association of disease trajectory and place of care with EOL burdensome transitions.

Design — Retrospective cohort study using administrative data.

Setting/participants — Ontarians aged ≥65 years who died between 2015 and 2018 and received long-term care (LTC) or home care 6 months before death.

Methods — Disease trajectories were defined based on EOL functional decline: terminal illness, organ failure, frailty, sudden death, and other. Places of care included LTC, EOL home care, and non-EOL home care. Burdensome transitions were defined as early (≥3 hospitalizations for any reason or ≥2 hospitalizations due to pneumonia, urinary tract infection, sepsis, or dehydration in the last 90 days of life) or late (≥1 hospitalizations for any reason in the last 3 days of life). Multinomial logistic regression tested for effect modification between disease trajectory and places of care on burdensome transitions.

Results — Of 110,776 decedents, 40.7% had organ failure, 37.5% frailty, and 12.8% terminal illness, with the remainder in sudden death or other categories. Most were in LTC (62.5%), and 37.5% received home care, with 6.8% receiving designated EOL home care and 30.7% non-EOL home care. There was a significant interaction (P < .001) between disease trajectory and care settings. Compared with terminal illness, organ failure was associated with increased odds of early transitions across all care settings [odds ratios (ORs) ranging 1.14-1.21]. Frailty was associated with increased odds of early transitions solely for non-EOL home care recipients (OR 1.17, 95% CI 1.06-1.28). Organ failure and frailty were associated with increased odds of late transitions across all settings, with organ failure having greater odds in LTC (organ failure OR 2.29, 95% CI 2.02-2.60, vs frailty OR 1.79, 95% CI 1.58-2.04).

Conclusions and implications — Disparities exist in burdensome transitions, notably for noncancer decedents with organ failure in LTC. Enhancing palliative care may help reduce burdensome transitions and improve patient outcomes.