Table 2. Characteristics of non-sudden deaths in Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain; % (95% CI), n.

Patient characteristics		Belgium	Netherlands	Italy	Spain	p-value
		N = 1604	N = 635	N = 1839	N = 388
Sex						.04*
	Male	46 (44 to 48)	47 (43 to 51)	47 (45 to 49)	54 (49 to 59)
		731	295	856	209
	Female	54 (52 to 56)	53 (49 to 57)	53 (51 to 55)	46 (41 to 51)
		868	333	983	179
Age at death						<.001*
	18–64 y	14 (12 to 16)	18 (15 to 21)	13 (11 to 15)	11 (8 to 14)
		219	117	233	43
	65–84 y	47 (45 to 49)	50 (46 to 54)	47 (45 to 49)	45 (40 to 50)
		753	318	860	174
	≥85 y	39 (37 to 41)	32 (28 to 36)	40 (38 to 42)	44 (39 to 49)
		620	200	746	171
Cause of death						<.001*
	Cancer	37 (35 to 39)	53 (49 to 57)	46 (44 to 48)	39 (34 to 44)
		595	335	830	149
	Cardiovasculardiseases	15 (13 to 17)	15 (12 to 18)	21 (19 to 23)	16 (12 to 20)
		237	94	375	63
	Respiratory disease	11 (9 to 13)	8 (6 to 10)	7 (6 to 8)	14 (11 to 17)
		171	49	130	55
	Diseases of the nervous system	7 (6 to 8)	3 (2 to 4)	6 (5 to 7)	5 (3 to 7)
		114	19	105	18
	Stroke	7 (6 to 8)	4 (2 to 6)	10 (9 to 11)	11 (8 to 14)
		109	24	181	41
	Other	23 (21 to 25)	18 (15 to 21)	10 (9 to 11)	15 (11 to 19)
		376	112	173	58
Place of death						<.001*
	Home	23 (21 to 25)	44 (40 to 48)	46 (44 to 48)	49 (44 to 54)
		367	276	846	188
	Care home	31 (29 to 33)	18 (15 to 21)	9 (8 to 10)	13 (10 to 16)
		499	114	164	48
	Hospital	36 (34 to 38)	28 (25 to 31)	39 (37 to 41)	33 (28 to 38)
		577	177	716	128
	Palliative care unit/hospice	9 (8 to 10)	10 (8 to 12)	5 (4 to 6)	4 (2 to 6)
		150	66	101	17
	Other†	0	0	1 (0.5 to 1.5)	1 (0.005 to 2)
		4	1	9	3

CI = confidence interval.

Percentages are within-country percentages. Percentages are rounded and thus may not add up to 100.

Nursing home deaths from the Netherlands (n = 52) were excluded.

Missing values: age n = 12 (0.3%), sex n = 12 (0.3%), place of death n = 15 (0.3%), cause of death n = 53 (1.2%).

Pearson χ ² test.

Not included in significance tests.