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Regional Reports – USA
New Study Sheds Better Light on Hospice Use Across America
This announcement is from the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization
”(Alexandria, Va) -- A new study sponsored by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization and published in the September 2007 issue of the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management examines which diseases are bringing people into hospice care and goes on to identify hospice utilization by geographic region.
Researchers examined records of the 1,811,720 persons aged 65 and older who died in the United States in 2002.
What Researchers Discovered:
* female decedents use hospice services more than their male
counterparts (30 vs. 27 percent in 2002);
* white decedents use hospice services more than blacks (29 vs. 22
percent in 2002); and
* overall, roughly one in three older Americans use hospice services
(28.6 percent in 2002).
Hospice use by cause of death varied significantly and was highest for people with cancer (65 percent), followed by kidney disease/nephritis (55 percent), Alzheimer's disease (41 percent), and COPD (30 percent).
It should be noted that the three causes of death with the highest hospice utilization rates correspond to diseases that commonly impose high burdens of caregiving on family caregivers. Hospice has always included family caregivers in the care plan, offering support during and after the death of the patient.
This study also showed significant geographic differences in hospice utilization. In general, hospice use was higher throughout the South and Southwest, and lower in the Midwest and the Northeast.
States in which services were used the most included Arizona (49 percent), Colorado (45 percent), and Florida (42 percent). States in which services were used the least included Alaska (8 percent), Maine (14 percent), South Dakota (16 percent), and Wyoming (16 percent)…”
Reference:
Geographic Variation in Hospice Use in the United States in 2002.
Stephen R. Connor, Felix Elwert, Carol Spence and Nicholas A. Christakis.
Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 2007; Volume 34, Issue 3, 277-285.
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