Health care consumption and place of death among old people with public home care or in special accommodation in their last year of life.
OBJECTIVE
Developing care for older people in the last phase of life requires knowledge about the type and extent of care and factors associated with the place of death. The aim of this study was to examine age, living conditions, dependency, care and service among old people during their last year of life, but also their place of death and factors predicting it.


METHODS
The sample (n=1198) was drawn from the care and services part of the Swedish National Study on Ageing and Care (SNAC). Criteria for inclusion were being 75+ years, dying in 2001-2004, and having public care and services at home or in special accommodation.


RESULTS
In the last year of life, 82% of persons living at home and 51% living in special accommodation were hospitalized; median stays were 10 and 6.7 days respectively. Those living at home were younger and less dependent in ADL than those living in special accommodation. Those living at home and those having several hospital stays more often died in hospital. In the total sample, more visits to physicians in outpatient care predicted dying in hospital, whereas living in special accommodation and PADL dependency predicted dying outside hospital.


CONCLUSIONS
Old people in their last year of life consumed a considerable amount of both municipal care and outpatient and in-hospital medical care, especially those living at home, which in several cases ended with death in hospital.
Andersson
Magdalena
M
Department of Health Sciences and The Vårdal Institute, The Swedish Institute For Health Sciences, Lund University, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden. Magdalena.Andersson@med.lu.se
Hallberg
Ingalill R
IR
Edberg
Anna-Karin
AK
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006699:Home Care Services; D017051:Hospice Care; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D013727:Terminal Care