• Yung-Feng Yen, Yun-Ju Lai, Ming-Chung Ko, Yu-Yen Chen, Yi-Tui Chen, Yi-Sheng Chou, Chun-Teng Huang, and Chu-Chieh Chen.
• Section of Infectious Diseases, Taipei City Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Institute of Public Health, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Health Care Management, National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Sciences, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Education and Research, Taipei City Hospital, Taiwan. Electronic address: yfyen1@gmail.com.
• J Pain Symptom Manage. 2021 Feb 1; 61 (2): 323-330.

ContextThe impact of hospice care services on the utilization of life-sustaining treatments during end-of-life care in terminally ill patients has not been extensively studied.ObjectivesTo determine the impact of hospice care services on the utilization of life-sustaining treatments during the last three months of life among patients with cancer.MethodsThis nationwide population-based cohort study identified adults with cancer diagnosis from the Taiwan Registry for Catastrophic Illness, 2006-2016. Life-sustaining treatments included cardiopulmonary resuscitation, intubation, mechanical ventilation support, nasogastric tube feeding, and total parenteral nutrition. Hospice care services consisted of hospice inpatient care, hospice-shared care, and hospice home care. The association of hospice care services with the utilization of life-sustaining treatments was determined using multiple logistic regression.ResultsOf 516,409 patients with cancer, 310,722 (60.2%) patients used life-sustaining treatments during the last three months of life. After adjusting for covariates, patients with hospice care services were less likely to receive life-sustaining treatments during the last three months of life than those without the services (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 0.70; 95% CI: 0.69-0.71). While type of life-sustaining treatments were considered, hospice care services were associated with a lower likelihood of receiving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (AOR: 0.125; 95% CI: 0.118-0.131), endotracheal intubation (AOR: 0.204; 95% CI: 0.199-0.210), mechanical ventilation support (AOR: 0.265; 95% CI: 0.260-0.270), nasogastric tube feeding (AOR: 0.736; 95% CI: 0.727-0.744), and total parenteral nutrition (AOR: 0.86; 95% CI: 0.84-0.88).ConclusionHospice care services were associated with a lower likelihood of receiving life-sustaining treatments during the last three months of life in patients with cancer.Copyright © 2020 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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