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Two studies provide complementary insights on racial differences in end-of-life medical care in the U.S.
Researchers linked national cancer-registry and Medicare data to examine end-of-life interventions in 883 women (age, ≥65; 85% white, 15% black) who had stage IV disease at initial presentation with breast cancer and who died between 2007 and 2012. Black women, compared with white women, were less likely to use hospice (60% vs. 71%), less likely to receive antidepressants or medications for insomnia, more likely to die in the hospital (36% vs. 22%), and more likely to either be admitted to an intensive care unit or have more than one hospitalization or emergency department visit during the last 30 days of life (40% vs. 29%).
Another study …