Place of death and end-of-life transitions experienced by very old people with differing cognitive status: Retrospective analysis of a prospective population-based cohort aged 85 and over

Perrels, Anouk J., Fleming, Jane, Zhao, Jun, Barclay, Stephen, Farquhar, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7991-7679, Buiting, Hilde M. and Brayne, Carol and The Cambridge City over-75s Cohort (CC75C) study collaboration (2014) Place of death and end-of-life transitions experienced by very old people with differing cognitive status: Retrospective analysis of a prospective population-based cohort aged 85 and over. Palliative Medicine, 28 (3). pp. 220-233. ISSN 0269-2163

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Abstract

Background: Despite fast-growing ‘older old’ populations, ‘place of care’ trajectories for very old people approaching death with or without dementia are poorly described and understood. Aim: To explore end-of-life transitions of ‘older old’ people across the cognitive spectrum. Design: Population-based prospective cohort (United Kingdom) followed to death. Setting/participants: Mortality records linked to 283 Cambridge City over-75s Cohort participants’ cognitive assessments <1 year before dying aged ≥85 years. Results: Overall, 69% were community dwelling in the year before death; of those with severe cognitive impairment 39% were community dwelling. Only 6% subsequently changed their usual address. However, for 55% their usual address on death registration was not their place of death. Dying away from the ‘usual address’ was associated with cognition, overall fewer moving with increasing cognitive impairment – cognition intact 66%, mildly/moderately impaired 55% and severely impaired 42%, trend p = 0.003. This finding reflects transitions being far more common from the community than from institutions: 73% from the community and 28% from institutions did not die where last interviewed (p < 0.001). However, severely cognitively impaired people living in the community were the most likely group of all to move: 80% (68%−93%). Hospitals were the most common place of death except for the most cognitively impaired, who mostly died in care homes. Conclusion: Most very old community-dwelling individuals, especially the severely cognitively impaired, died away from home. Findings also suggest that long-term care may play a role in avoidance of end-of-life hospital admissions. These results provide important information for planning end-of-life services for older people across the cognitive spectrum, with implications for policies aimed at supporting home deaths.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (http://www.uk.sagepub.com/aboutus/openaccess.htm).
Uncontrolled Keywords:	cognitive impairment,dementia,aged,80 and over,frail elderly,patient transfer,residential characteristics,homes for the aged,nursing homes,delivery of health care,terminal care
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Health Sciences
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Health Promotion Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Lifespan Health
Related URLs:	http://pmj.sagepub.com/cgi/doi/10.1177/0...
Depositing User:	Pure Connector
Date Deposited:	22 Oct 2016 21:46
Last Modified:	19 Oct 2023 01:48
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/61012
DOI:	10.1177/0269216313510341

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