Recent immigrants may be more likely than other people to receive aggressive treatment in their last six months of life and die in intensive care, a Canadian study suggests.

Recent immigrants may be more likely than other people to receive aggressive treatment in their last six months of life and die in intensive care, a Canadian study suggests.

Even after researchers accounted for other factors that can influence end-of-life care such as income, age and cause of death, recent immigrants were 30% more likely to die in intensive care units, the study found.

They were also more likely to be admitted to the hospital in their last six months of life, and more likely to have machines helping them eat and breathe, researchers report in JAMA, online October 2.

“The perception - I think often a mistaken perception - is that more procedures and machines represent better care, when in fact it doesn’t reflect care that would address patients’ and families’ fundamental needs at the end of life,” said senior study author Dr. Robert Fowler of the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto.

While the study didn’t assess why recent immigrants received different care than citizens or longtime residents, a lack of awareness about care options outside the hospital and poor communication may both play a role, Fowler said by email.