Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41612119›Full record

ArticleJournal of general internal medicine2026

End-of-Life Care Processes and Outcomes for Older Adults Treated by International Medical Graduates vs. US Medical Graduates.

Gillian S Kaneshiro, David B Reuben, David S Zingmond, Anne M Walling, Anupam B Jena, Neil S Wenger, Cheryl L Damberg, Haiyong Xu, Nate Gross, Hiroshi Gotanda and 1 more

Abstract readComparative Study
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of general internal medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Gillian S KaneshiroColumbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA.
David B ReubenMulticampus Program in Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
David S ZingmondDivision of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Anne M WallingDivision of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Anupam B JenaDepartment of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Neil S WengerDivision of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Cheryl L DambergRAND, Santa Monica, CA, USA.
Haiyong XuDivision of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Nate GrossDoximity, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Hiroshi GotandaDivision of General Internal Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Yusuke TsugawaDivision of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA. ytsugawa@mednet.ucla.edu.ORCID 0000-0002-1937-4833

Funding

The Impact of physician and health system factors on the quality of care for persons with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias at the end of lifeR01AG068633 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI TSUGAWA, YUSUKE · 2020 to 2024
$3.0M
The effect of medical school, residency program, and health system board diversities on racial and ethnic disparities in AD/ADRD care.R01AG082991 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI Yusuke Tsugawa · 2023 to 2026
$2.1M
National Institute of Health R01AG068633National Institute of Health R01AG082991National Institute of Health R01MD013913NIA NIH HHS R01 AG068633NIA NIH HHS R01 AG082991
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

importanceInternational medical graduates (IMGs-physicians who graduated from a medical school outside the US) hold a significant role in the US healthcare system. Research suggests that clinicians' attitudes towards end-of-life (EOL) care may vary across countries.

objectiveTo compare EOL care processes and outcomes for older adults treated by IMGs vs. US medical graduates (USMGs).

designCross-sectional study.

participantsA 20% random sample of Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries aged 66 years or older who died in 2016-2019. MAIN MEASURES: Seven EOL care-related measures: (i) palliative care counseling or hospice enrollment in the last 180 days of life; (ii) emergency department visits, (iii) hospital admissions, (iv) intensive care unit admissions, (v) use of mechanical ventilation or cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or (vi) feeding tube placement in the last 30 days of life; and (vii) death in an acute care hospital. We adjusted for beneficiary- and physician-level confounders; P-values were adjusted using the Bonferroni-Holm method for multiple comparisons.

resultsAmong 391,425 beneficiaries, 117,754 (30.1%) were attributed to IMGs and 273,671 (69.9%) to USMGs. We found no evidence that six of the seven measured EOL care processes and outcomes differ between IMGs and USMGs. Beneficiaries treated by IMGs were slightly less likely to have emergency department visits in the last 30 days of life (57.1% vs. 57.6%; adjusted difference, -0.5 pp; 95% CI, -0.9 to -0.2; P = 0.04) compared with those treated by USMGs. Subgroup analyses by beneficiaries with cancer or chronic heart failure showed no evidence that EOL care processes and outcomes differ by physician's country of medical school after adjustment for multiple comparisons.

conclusionsEOL care processes and outcomes were similar for older adults treated by IMG and USMG physicians, despite potential differences in medical training during medical school.

Indexed as

Foreign Medical GraduatesTerminal CareAgedAged, 80 and overCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansMaleMedicarePalliative CareUnited Statesend-of-life careinternational medical graduatemedicare

Identifiers

PMID41612119
PMCPMC13167044

What Socratic holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.