Description:
Few efforts have attempted to comparatively measure how well countries deliver end-of-life (EOL) care. Results from prior studies, which were largely based on proxy measures, are now outdated. This presentation presents results of an effort to systematically rank and grade countries (and Hong Kong and Taiwan) on the quality of EOL care using a novel preference-based score, termed the Quality of Death and Dying Index (QODDI) 2021. We fielded a survey among country experts around the world, asking them to rate the performance of their country on 13 key indicators of EOL care. Ratings were combined with preference weights from caregiver-proxies of recently deceased patients to generate a weighted summary score that ranked and graded (from A to F) countries based on overall EOL care. The final sample includes responses from 181 experts representing 81 countries with 2 or more experts reporting. This presentation presents the results and highlights the large disparities in the quality of EOL care across countries, and especially between the highest income countries and others.

Presenter(s):     Dr. Eric Finkestein