Effect of a palliative care program on trends in intensive care unit utilization and do-not-resuscitate orders during terminal hospitalizations. An interrupted time series analysis

Abstract

Objective:To assess the effect of the implementation of a palliative care program on do-not-resuscitate orders and intensive care unit utilization during terminal hospitalizations. Methods: Data were retrospectively collected for all patients who died in a tertiary hospital in Brazil from May 2014 to September 2016. We analyzed the frequency of do-not-resuscitate orders and intensive care unit admissions among in-hospital deaths. Interrupted time series analyses were used to evaluate differences in trends of do-not-resuscitate orders and intensive care unit admissions before (17 months) and after (12 months) the implementation of a palliative care program. Results: We analyzed 48,372 hospital admissions and 1,071 in-hospital deaths. Deaths were preceded by do-not-resuscitate orders in 276 (25.8%) cases and admissions to the intensive care unit occurred in 814 (76%) cases. Do-not-resuscitate orders increased from 125 (20.4%) to 151 (33%) cases in the pre-implementation and post-implementation periods, respectively (p < 0.001). Intensive care unit admissions occurred in 469 (76.5%) and 345 (75.3%) cases in the pre-implementation and post-implementation periods, respectively (p = 0.654). Interrupted time series analyses confirmed a trend of increased do-not-resuscitate order registrations, from an increase of 0.5% per month pre-implementation to an increase of 2.9% per month post-implementation (p < 0.001), and demonstrated a trend of decreased intensive care unit utilization, from an increase of 0.6% per month pre-implementation to a decrease of -0.9% per month in the post-implementation period (p = 0.001). Conclusion: The implementation of a palliative care program was associated with a trend of increased registration of do-not-resuscitate orders and a trend of decreased intensive care unit utilization during terminal hospitalizations.