Patient characteristics, palliative treatment, hospital stay and discharge status
| COPD patients with PCNs | COPD patients without PCNs | p-value | |
| Subjects | 132 | 1323 | |
| Age in years | 68.8±10.6 | 67.2±10.7 | 0.113 |
| Male | 94 (71.2) | 942 (71.2) | 0.998 |
| Presence of relatives | 70 (53.0) | 810 (61.2) | 0.066 |
| Palliative treatment | 3 (2.3) | 3 (0.2) | <0.001 |
| Length of hospital stay days | 13.7±11.7 | 10.3±10.9 | 0.001 |
| Deceased | 11 (8.3) | 49 (3.7) | 0.011 |
| Discharged home | 92 (69.7) | 1079 (81.6) | 0.001 |
| Discharged to another acute care hospital or rehabilitation centre | 23 (17.4) | 168 (12.7) | 0.125 |
| Discharged elsewhere (e.g. nursing home) | 6 (4.5) | 27 (2.0) | 0.065 |
Data are presented as n, mean±sd or n (%), unless otherwise stated. COPD: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; PCNs: palliative care needs.