End-of-Life Care for Older Adults With Dementia by Race and Ethnicity and Physicians’ Role

Does end-of-life care for individuals with dementia vary by race and ethnicity, and can these variations be explained by differences in the physicians providing their care?In this cohort study of 259 945 decedents with dementia, non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic decedents were less likely to use hospice and more likely to receive billed advance care planning, palliative care counseling, and intensive end-of-life care than non-Hispanic White decedents. Variations in end-of-life care utilization by race and ethnicity persisted when comparing decedents treated by the same physician.These findings suggest that end-of-life care utilization varies by race and ethnicity among decedents with dementia, but these variations are not explained by differences in the physicians providing their care.

Corresponding Author: Deborah M. Oyeyemi, MD, MS, Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, 1100 Glendon Ave, Ste 900, Los Angeles, CA 90024 (doyeyemi@g.ucla.edu)

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