Do advanced cancer patients and their caregivers agree on preferred place of patient's death?-a prospective cohort study of patient-caregiver dyads.

BACKGROUND

Greater patient-caregiver concordance for preferred place of death can increase the chances of patients dying at their preferred place, thus improving quality of life at end-of-life (EOL). We aimed to assess changes in and predictors of patient-caregiver concordance in preference for home death at EOL during the last 3 years of life of patients with advanced cancer.

METHODS

We used data from the Cost of Medical Care of Patients with Advanced Serious Illness in Singapore (COMPASS) cohort study of patients with stage IV solid cancer. We interviewed patients and their caregivers every 4 months to assess their preference for home death (for patient), and patient (symptom burden, inpatient usage, financial difficulties) and caregiver (psychosocial distress, spiritual wellbeing, competency and perceived lack of family support) characteristics. We used data from patients' last 3 years of life. We used multivariable multinomial logistic regressions to predict dyad concordance for preference for home death.

RESULTS

A total of 227 patient-caregiver dyads were analyzed. More than half of the patient-caregiver dyads observations were concordant in their preference for home death (54%). Concordance for home death declined closer to death (from 68% to 44%). Concordant dyads who preferred home death were less likely to include older patients [relative risk ratio, 0.97; P=0.03]. Dyads who preferred a non-home death (hospital, hospice, nursing home, unsure or others) were more likely to include patients with greater symptom burden (1.08; P=0.007) and with spousal caregivers (2.59; P=0.050), and less likely to include caregivers with greater psychosocial distress (0.90; P=0.003) and higher spiritual wellbeing (0.92; P=0.007).

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides evidence of the dynamic changes in preference for home death among patient-caregiver dyads during last 3 years of patients' life. Understanding the EOL needs of older patients, optimizing home-based symptom control and better caregiver support are recommended to increase likelihood of dyad concordance for home death.