Inpatient palliative care use by patients with sickle cell disease: a retrospective cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a highly morbid condition notable for recurrent hospitalisations due to vaso-occlusive crises and complications of end organ damage. Little is known about the use of inpatient palliative care services in adult patients with SCD. This study aims to evaluate inpatient palliative care use during SCD-related hospitalisations overall and during terminal hospitalisations. We hypothesise that use of palliative care is low in SCD hospitalisations. DESIGN: A retrospective cross-sectional study using data from the National Inpatient Sample from 2008 to 2017 was conducted. SETTING: US hospitals from 47 states and the District of Columbia. PARTICIPANTS: Patients >18 years old hospitalised with a primary or secondary International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) or ICD-10-CM diagnosis of SCD were included. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Palliative care service use (documented by ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM diagnosis codes V66.7 and Z51.5). RESULTS: 987 555 SCD-related hospitalisations were identified, of which 4442 (0.45%) received palliative care service. Palliative care service use increased at a rate of 9.2% per year (95% CI 5.6 to 12.9). NH-black and Hispanic patients were 33% and 53% less likely to have palliative care services compared with NH-white patients (OR 0.67; 95% CI 0.45 to 0.99 and OR 0.47; 95% CI 0.26 to 0.84). Female patients (OR 0.40; 95% CI 0.21 to 0.76), Medicaid use (OR 0.40; 95% CI 0.21 to 0.78), rural (OR 0.47; 95% CI 0.28 to 0.79) and urban non-teaching hospitals (OR 0.61; 95% CI 0.47 to 0.80) each had a lower likelihood of palliative care services use. CONCLUSION: Use of palliative care during SCD-related hospitalisations is increasing but remains low. Disparities associated with race and gender exist for use of palliative care services during SCD-related hospitalisation. Further studies are needed to guide evidence-based palliative care interventions for more comprehensive and equitable care of adult patients with SCD.