Palliative care provision by timing of latest chemotherapy
| Time of latest chemotherapy | Palliative care provision (n=2479) | Subgroup receiving palliative care (n=1598) | |||||
| Not received | Received | Post hoc | No of palliative events | Time between first contact with palliative care and death | |||
| No (%) | No (%) | Median (IQR) | Post hoc | Median (IQR) | Post hoc | ||
| No chemotherapy | 463 (52.6) | 582 (36.4) | <0.05 | 2 events (1–3) | i | 5 weeks (2–14) | i, ii |
| 0–4 weeks | 47 (5.3) | 82 (5.1) | ns | 1 event (1–2) | i, ii | 2 weeks (1–6) | i, iii |
| Over 4 weeks | 371 (42.1) | 934 (58.5) | <0.05 | 2 events (1–3) | ii | 8 weeks (2–22) | ii, iii |
| Statistical test | (χ2 (2)=63.90, P<0.001) | (K–W (2)=19.94, P<0.001) | (K–W (2)=46.58, P<0.001) | ||||
χ2, (df shown in brackets). Post hoc, multiple comparison z-test statistics comparing mean ranks for each possible two category comparison group; i, ii, iii, iv, v links categories where post hoc comparison groups which resulted in a P value less than 0.05 (after adjusting using the Bonferroni correction).
K–W, Kruskal-Wallis H test; ns, not significant.