Table 3

Relationship between recognising death in the near future before the last week of life and care characteristics in the last week of life, (n = 165)^a

	Never recognised death in the near future before patient died (n = 72),%	Recognised death in the near future before patient's last week (n = 93),%	Odds ratio (95% CI)^b
Place of death: hospital
No	24	76	0.15 (0.06 to 0.4)
Yes	77	23
Total	44	56

Initiation of palliative care services in the last week
No	37	63	6.7 (0.6 to 73.1)
Yes	9	91
Total	15	85

Number of GP–patient contacts in the last week of life (2 or median)
No	65	35	11.5 (4.2 to 31.0)
Yes	9	91
Total	42	58

Dying in a preferred place
No	54	46	4.38 (1.4 to 14)
Yes	21	79
Total	28	72

GP–patient communication on specific end-of-life issues in the last week of life

Possible complications
No	49	51	3.08 (1.1 to 8.5)
Yes	22	78
Total	43	57

Physical complaints
No	57	41	4.39 (1.9 to 10.3)
Yes	23	77
Total	43	57

Psychological problems
No	50	50	2.55 (1.0 to 6.4)
Yes	24	76
Total	42	57

Social problems
No	50	50	2.07 (0.8 to 5.5)
Yes	25	75
Total	43	57

Spiritual/existential problems
No	46	54	4.5 (0.5 to 41.3)
Yes	9	91
Total	43	57

Palliative care options
No	53	47	4.92 (1.6 to 14.7)
Yes	12	88
Total	42	58

Treatment burdens
No	47	53	1.81 (0.6 to 5.1)
Yes	23	77
Total	43	57

↵a Excluding 82 in whom death in the near future was recognised within the last week of life and five missing values. Percentages of missing observations variables ranged between 0.4% and 5.6%.
↵b Corrected for cancer diagnosis and ambulant functional state. Significant levels in bold.