Background: Emergency providers' knowledge and attitudes may be a barrier to adopting hospice and palliative care practice. Objective: To assess provider characteristics associated with knowledge and attitudes toward hospice and palliative care (KAHP). Design: Cross-sectional analysis. Setting/Subjects: Emergency physicians, advanced practice providers (APPs), and nurses from 35 U.S. emergency departments (EDs) enrolled in a provider-focused intervention. Measurement: The outcome measures were the total and subscale scores of the KAHP scale. The predictor variables were age, sex, race/ethnicity, and years of practice. We reported the observed association using a linear mixed-effects regression model. Results: The mean KAHP score, rated from 10 to 50, was 36. Increased years of practice were associated with increased mean self-reported knowledge and attitudes scores among APPs and nurses. Conclusion: Understanding the provider characteristics associated with hospice and palliative care adoption in the ED may inform the development of interventions for specific providers. ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03424109).
Keywords: emergency medicine; emergency providers' knowledge and attitudes; hospice; palliative care.