Correlation of Palliative Performance Scale and Survival in Patients With Cancer Receiving Home-Based Palliative Care.

The main objective of this study was to examine whether and how the Palliative Performance Scale (PPS), a measure of a patient's function, was predictive of survival time for those in receipt of home-based palliative care. This was a prospective study, which included 194 cancer patients from November 17, 2013, to August 18, 2015. Data were collected from biweekly telephone interviews with caregivers. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were estimated to assess how survival time was correlated with initial PPS scores after admission to the home-based palliative care program. A multivariate extended Cox regression model was used to examine the association between PPS and survival. The results showed that patients with higher PPS scores, that is, better function, had a lower hazard ratio (0.977; 95% confidence interval: 0.965-0.989) and hence longer survival times. The PPS can be used in predicting survival time for home-based palliative care patients.

Determinants of and socio-economic disparities in self-rated health in China.

BACKGROUND: Self-rated health (SRH) is not only used to measure health status and health inequalities, but also as a strong predictor of morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this study was to: 1) evaluate the factors that account for variations in self-rated health among Chinese citizens; and to 2) explore the process through which socio-economic status may impact self-rated health. METHODS: Data were derived from the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) (2013). Determinants of self-rated health were analyzed along four main dimensions: demographic characteristics, socio-economic status, lifestyle, and psychosocial factors. Multivariate odds ratios for good self-rated health were calculated for different variables in order to analyze the determinants. Binary logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the extent to which lifestyle and psychosocial factors explained the association between socio-economic status and self-rated health. RESULTS: About 65% of the survey respondents reported good self-rated health. Women, the elderly, married or single respondents and residents of Western China were less likely to report good self-rated health. Respondents who were engaged in work, had higher household income, reported high social class and higher socio-economic status compared with peers were more likely to report good self-rated health. Normal weight and physically active respondents along with those reporting a happy life, no depression, and good relationships with families and friends were related to good self-rated health. We also found the effect of socio-economic status on self-rated health was partly explained by lifestyle and psychosocial factors. CONCLUSION: The present findings support the notion that both socio-economic status and lifestyle as well as psychosocial factors were related with good self-rated health. The interventions targeting these factors could improve the health status of the population. The depression was the most influential predictor of self-rated health, especially for the women and the elderly. Although lifestyle and psychosocial factors explained partly the the association between socio-economic status and health, the reason why socio-economic difference exists in health must be further explored. What's more, it needs to be further studied why the same determinant has different influence strengths on the health of different groups of people.

Decomposing the causes of socioeconomic-related health inequality among urban and rural populations in China: a new decomposition approach.

BACKGROUND: In recent decades, China has experienced tremendous economic growth and also witnessed growing socioeconomic-related health inequality. The study aims to explore the potential causes of socioeconomic-related health inequality in urban and rural areas of China over the past two decades. METHODS: This study used six waves of the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) from 1991 to 2006. The recentered influence function (RIF) regression decomposition method was employed to decompose socioeconomic-related health inequality in China. Health status was derived from self-rated health (SRH) scores. The analyses were conducted on urban and rural samples separately. RESULTS: We found that the average level of health status declined from 1989 to 2006 for both urban and rural populations. Average health scores were greater for the rural population compared with those for the urban population. We also found that there exists pro-rich health inequality in China. While income and secondary education were the main factors to reduce health inequality, older people, unhealthy lifestyles and a poor home environment increased inequality. Health insurance had the opposite effects on health inequality for urban and rural populations, resulting in lower inequality for urban populations and higher inequality for their rural counterparts. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that an effective way to reduce socioeconomic-related health inequality is not only to increase income and improve access to health care services, but also to focus on improvements in the lifestyles and the home environment. Specifically, for rural populations, it is particularly important to improve the design of health insurance and implement a more comprehensive insurance package that can effectively target the rural poor. Moreover, it is necessary to comprehensively promote the flush toilets and tap water in rural areas. For urban populations, in addition to promoting universal secondary education, healthy lifestyles should be promoted, including measures such as alcohol control.

Socioeconomic Differences and Trends in the Place of Death among Elderly People in China.

China is facing a dramatic aging of its population. Little is known about the factors that influence the place of death and the trends in the place of death for elderly people in China. The purposes of this study were: (1) to examine the impact of the socioeconomic status (SES) on place of death for elderly Chinese residents; and (2) to assess temporal trends in the place of death over the last 15 years. Data were derived from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) (1998-2012). Place-of-death as an outcome was dichotomized into either death at home or death outside the home. Logistic regression analyses were used to examine the impact of SES on place of death. The results showed that, of the 23,098 deaths during the study period, 87.78% occurred at home. The overall trend in home death has increased since 2005. SES was shown to be an important factor affecting place of death. The elderly with higher SES were more likely to die where health resources were concentrated, i.e., in a hospital or other type of institution. Our finding suggests that the trend towards a greater emphasis on death at home may call for the development of more supportive home care programs in China. Our finding also suggests that the socioeconomic differences in the place of death may be related to the availability of or access to health care services.

Socioeconomic Differences in and Predictors of Home-Based Palliative Care Health Service Use in Ontario, Canada.

The use of health services may vary across people with different socioeconomic statuses, and may be determined by many factors. The purposes of this study were (i) to examine the socioeconomic differences in the propensity and intensity of use for three main home-based health services, that is, home-based palliative care physician visits, nurse visits and personal support worker (PSW) hours; and (ii) to explore the determinants of the use of home-based palliative care services. A prospective cohort study was employed. A total of 181 caregivers were interviewed biweekly over the course of the palliative care trajectory, yielding a total of 994 interviews. The propensity and intensity of health service use were examined using logistic regression and negative binomial regression, respectively. The results demonstrated that both the propensity and intensity of home-based nurse and PSW visits fell with socioeconomic status. The use of home-based palliative care services was not concentrated in high socioeconomic status groups. The common predictors of health service use in the three service categories were patient age, the Palliative Performance Scale (PPS) score and place of death. These findings may assist health service planners in the appropriate allocation of resources and service packages to meet the complex needs of palliative care populations.