Palliative Care and EOL Care Utilization in Hospitalized Adults of Dharmic Religions with Cancer.

Cohort studyJournal of pain and symptom management· Aug 2026

Palliative Care and EOL Care Utilization in Hospitalized Adults of Dharmic Religions with Cancer.

Rushil V Patel, Jill M Bowden, Danielle Boselli … Judith E Nelson

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OncologyCohort studyClinical practiceQ1IF 3.3

Hospitalized adults of Dharmic religions with cancer died in-hospital far more often.

Palliative Care and EOL Care Utilization in Hospitalized Adults of Dharmic Religions with Cancer.

Rushil V Patel … Judith E Nelson

Journal of pain and symptom management · Aug 2026

Background

Palliative care (palliative care) and end-of-life (EOL) care utilization for adults of Dharmic religions (DR; Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism) with cancer in the US is unknown.

Purpose

To measure palliative care utilization and EOL outcomes among hospitalized

Methods

We reviewed electronic health record (electronic health record) data for palliative care utilization and National Quality Framework (National Quality Framework)-endorsed EOL metrics at a dedicated cancer hospital and interviewed hospitalized DR patients and chaplains.

n = 54,828 hospitalized adults

Results

died in hospital more than twice as often

DR inpatient deaths

27%

NDR inpatient deaths

12%

More results

In multivariate analysis, advanced illness (OR 18.57) was the strongest predictor of palliative care utilization.

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Conclusion · 1 of 2

For DR adults with cancer, palliative care is triggered by higher acute care utilization at the EOL. Interviews uncovered unmet socio-cultural needs.

Conclusion · 2 of 2

To improve outcomes, medical oncology and palliative care teams need to proactively address values across the cancer trajectory.

Palliative Care and EOL Care Utilization in Hospitalized Adults of Dharmic Religions with Cancer.

Palliative Care and EOL Care Utilization in Hospitalized Adults of Dharmic Religions with Cancer.

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