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OBJECTIVE. For patients who die in hospitals, the regionalization of tertiary health care services may be increasing the home-to-hospital distance, particularly for younger patients whose care is especially regionalized and for whom access to and use of home hospice services remains limited. The objective of this study was to test the hypotheses that the distance from home at the time of death in a hospital has increased over time and is inversely related to the age of the dying patient. METHODS. A population-based case series was conducted in Washington State of all deaths of state residents from 1989 to 2002. The main outcome measure was driving distance between home residence and location at the time of death. RESULTS. The overall mean distance from home to the hospital where death occurred has increased by 1% annually. Children who died in hospitals were much farther from home than their adult counterparts: the mean distance was 37.4 km for neonates and 50.9 km for children who were aged 1 to 9 years, compared with 19.9 km for adults who were aged 60 to 79 years and 14.0 km for patients who were older than 79 years. Disparities of distance were even greater among patients who were at the 90th percentile for distance (85.6 km for neonates compared with 30.8 for patient who were older than 79 years). CONCLUSIONS. The distance between home residence and the hospital where death occurs is greatest for children and has increased over time. Both of these findings have implications for the design of local and regional pediatric end-of-life supportive care services. KEY WORDS. end of life, palliative care, hospitalization, hospice care, geography.

Background: Prescription omega-3-acid ethyl esters (POM3) reduce triglycerides (TG) and very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and increase high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) in patients with hypertriglyceridemia. Objective: To examine the effects of POM3 plus atorvastatin versus placebo plus atorvastatin on lipoprotein particle concentrations and sizes, apolipoprotein (Apo) CIII, and lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 mass in subjects with mixed dyslipidemia. Methods: After a 4-week diet lead in, men and women with non-HDL-C >160 mg/dL and TG 250-599 mg/dL, while taking no lipid-altering drugs, received double-blind 4 g/d POM3 (n = 118) or placebo (n = 119) with open-label atorvastatin 10 mg/d for 8 weeks, followed by escalation to 20 mg/d atorvastatin for 4 weeks, then 40 mg/d atorvastatin for 4 weeks. Results: Total low-density lipoprotein particle (LDL-P) concentration decreased significantly from baseline, and the reductions did not differ between the POM3 and placebo groups (−659.7 vs −624.4 nmol/L, P = .181). With POM3, compared with placebo, small LDL-P concentration decreased (P = .026), large LDL-P concentration increased (P < .001), mean LDL-P size increased (P = .001), a larger fraction of subjects switched from LDL subclass pattern B to A, and Apo CIII and lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 levels were reduced (P < .001). The incremental effects of POM3 were similar across atorvastatin doses for most variables. Conclusion: This analysis supports the view that LDL-P concentration is not increased by POM3 plus atorvastatin, relative to atorvastatin monotherapy, and is associated with potentially favorable shifts in LDL-P subfractions, Apo CIII and lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 in mixed dyslipidemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]