Trends and Status of Hospice Use in South Korea(2018-2022)

Abstract

Background: This study assessed nationwide data from South Korea to investigate recent trends in hospice use by terminally ill patients with cancer depending on the type of hospice care and examined the mean duration of such use. Methods: Data for 2018-2022 were obtained from the National Hospice and Palliative Care (NHPC) registry along with the relevant cause-of-death statistics. Frequencies and trend tests were conducted to analyze the percentage of individuals who used hospice services and evaluate whether the observed use trends were statistically significant. Similarly, analysis of variance and t-tests were conducted to determine the mean duration of hospice stay. Results: The total rate of hospice use by terminally ill patients with cancer was 24.2% in 2022. The overall use rates did not reveal a significant trend. However, the use of inpatient care indicated a decreasing trend, whereas an increasing trend was observed in the employment of home- and consultation-based services. The total mean duration of hospice stay was 27.4 days. No significant changes occurred in overall use during the study period. Conclusion: Korea is one of the few countries to operate a national registry system for hospice patients; therefore, this study contributes significantly by reporting hospice use and stay duration percentages.