Table 2.
Characteristics of the deceased persons and their family members
| Deceased persons | Family members | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| %a | n | %a | n | |
| Sex (missing = 0/0)b | ||||
| Male | 50.3 | (244) | 29.3 | (142) |
| Female | 49.7 | (241) | 70.7 | (343) |
| Age (missing = 1/8)b | ||||
| 18–39 | 2.4 | (12) | ||
| 40–59 | 3.5 | (17) | 29.1 | (141) |
| 60–69 | 8.9 | (43) | 31.3 | (152) |
| 70–79 | 23.1 | (112) | 22.9 | (111) |
| 80–89 | 36.7 | (178) | 11.3 | (55) |
| 90 + | 27.6 | (134) | 1.2 | (6) |
| Educational attainment (Missing = 5/3)b | ||||
| Lower secondary education | 72.4 | (351) | 29.5 | (143) |
| Higher secondary education | 11.1 | (54) | 30.5 | (148) |
| Higher education | 15.5 | (75) | 39.4 | (191) |
| Underlying cause of death 1c | ||||
| Cognitive diseases | 1.0 | (4) | ||
| Neurodegenerative diseases | 1.0 | (4) | ||
| Liver diseases | 1.5 | (6) | ||
| Renal diseases | 9.4 | (38) | ||
| Respiratory diseases | 15.1 | (61) | ||
| Cancer | 15.8 | (64) | ||
| Heart diseases (incl. cerebrovasular) | 56.3 | (228) | ||
| Underlying cause of death 2c | ||||
| HIV/Aids | 0.3 | (1) | ||
| Liver diseases | 0.9 | (3) | ||
| Neurodegenerative diseases | 1.2 | (4) | ||
| Cognitive diseases | 3.5 | (12) | ||
| Renal diseases | 4.4 | (15) | ||
| Respiratory diseases | 10.2 | (35) | ||
| Cancer | 15.2 | (52) | ||
| Heart diseases (incl. cerebrovasular) | 64.3 | (220) | ||
| Length of illness before death (Missing = 6)b | ||||
| Sudden death | 5.4 | (26) | ||
| < 24 h | 2.1 | (10) | ||
| 24 h – 1 week | 10.7 | (52) | ||
| 1 week – 1 month | 13.0 | (63) | ||
| 1 month – 6 months | 14.8 | (72) | ||
| 6 months – 1 year | 10.3 | (50) | ||
| 1 year or more | 42.5 | (206) | ||
| Relationship (missing = 4)b | ||||
| Spouse | 34.5 | (166) | ||
| Child | 51.8 | (249) | ||
| Otherd | 13.7 | (66) | ||
a Column percentage displayed
b Missing = 0/0 shows the number of missing cases for deceased persons/bereaved family members
c Underlying causes of death according to Murtagh’s (2014) model for potential palliative care needs
d E.g., parent, sibling, friend