P164 Are Non-Malignant Deaths Anticipated and Supported in Hospital?

Abstract

Background: Over 50% of Canadians die in hospital, with limited information on the quality of their endof-life (EOL) care. It is also unclear whether non-malignant deaths (NMD) are anticipated, and therefore provided with appropriate EOL care, compared to malignant deaths (MD).Methods: We reviewed 300 deaths on an internal medicine unit in a tertiary care hospital from 2011-2012. Data collected included length of stay (LS), palliative care (PC) referral, cause of death, and classification of death by the attending physician (1-Anticipated death due to terminal illness, 2-Expected death, despite preventative measures, 3-Unexpected death, which was not preventable, 4-Preventable death, where steps may not have been taken to prevent it, 5-Unexpected death, resulting from a medical intervention). Charts of 150 of these deaths were reviewed to determine quality and timing of EOL care.