Table 7. Hospital use rates by decedents in their last and second-to-last years of life, and survivors in 1977 and 1978.

Measure and period	Survival status		Decedents-to-survivors ratio
	Decedents	Survivors
Persons hospitalized	Per 1,000 enrollees
Last year (1978)	739	202	3.7
Second-to-last year (1977)	336	189	1.8
Discharges
Last year (1978)	1,537	294	5.2
Second-to-last year (1977)	556	267	2.1
Days of care
Last year (1978)	20,607	3,033	6.8
Second-to-last year (1977)	6,605	2,682	2.5

NOTE: Data for the last year of life for decedents in 1978 are compared with the 1978 experience of survivors. Data for the second-to-last year of life are compared to the 1977 experience of survivors.

SOURCE: Health Care Financing Administration: Data from the Medicare Statistical System.