[Epidemiological factors affecting place of terminal care and of death in the elderly].
To clarify the factors associated with the location where terminal care and death occurs in the elderly, we conducted interviews of family members who had cared for elderly persons who died from cerebral infarction in Fukui City, Sabae City, and Oono City in 1985. Subjects selected had conscious levels that were clear or Level 1 on the Japan Coma Scale at the onset of disease and whose debilitation had exceeded six months. We evaluated the characteristics of three groups, Group 1 comprising 21 subjects who had died in a hospital after both institutional and home care, Group 2 being 30 people who had died at home after a similar course of treatment as Group 1, and Group 3 being 18 subjects who had died at home after non-institutional care. In Group 1, elderly spouses of the subjects performed a larger part of the care than in the other groups. Caregivers who were members of the same household as the subjects had higher rates of having jobs other than housekeeping and of receiving medical treatment for some disease in Group 1 than in the other groups. Subjects in Group 2 received relatively more care in their own households and obtained greater amount of medical service assistance. Subjects in Group 3 experienced the least amount of disturbance in daily living activities, the shortest period of debilitation, and had the most household members able to take care of them.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Department of Environmental Health, Fukui Medical School.
M
M
Iki
A
A
Ogata
E
E
Kajita
Y
Y
Fujishita
T
T
Yajima
T
T
Ooida
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003643:Death; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D006299:Health Services for the Aged; D006699:Home Care Services; D006701:Home Nursing; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D013727:Terminal Care