Table 1.
Patients’ and bereaved relatives’ background characteristics according to place of death. a
| Home, n (%) | Hospital, n (%) | Nursing home, n (%) | Hospice, n (%) | p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 68 (17.3) | 114 (29.0) | 176 (44.8) | 35 (8.9) | ||
| Patient characteristics | |||||
| Sex | |||||
| Female | 28 (41.2) | 38 (33.3) | 101 (57.4) | 19 (54.3) | 0.001 |
| Male | 35 (51.5) | 73 (64.0) | 70 (39.8) | 16 (45.7) | |
| Other/unknown | 5 (7.4) | 3 (2.6) | 5 (2.8) | 0 | |
| Age, mean (SD, range) | 76.6 (13.1, 79.0) | 72.7 (17.0, 96.0) | 84.5 (9.2, 78.0) | 81.5 (11.1, 52.0) | 0.232 |
| COVID-19 | |||||
| (Probably) yes | 12 (17.6) | 86 (75.4) | 109 (61.9) | 15 (42.9) | 0.000 |
| (Probably) no | 55 (80.9) | 26 (22.8) | 64 (36.4) | 20 (57.1) | |
| Unknown | 1 (1.5) | 2 (1.8) | 3 (1.7) | 0 | |
| Serious (chronic) illness b | |||||
| Cancer | 31 (45.6) | 18 (15.8) | 18 (10.2) | 12 (34.3) | 0.000 |
| Heart disease | 15 (22.1) | 27 (23.7) | 21 (11.9) | 8 (22.9) | 0.042 |
| Lung disease | 8 (11.8) | 27 (23.7) | 21 (11.9) | 9 (25.7) | 0.017 |
| Diabetes | 4 (5.9) | 14 (12.3) | 24 (13.6) | 2 (5.7) | 0.243 |
| Dementia | 5 (7.4) | 7 (6.1) | 110 (62.5) | 10 (28.6) | 0.000 |
| Other | 20 (29.4) | 27 (23.7) | 48 (27.3) | 9 (25.7) | 0.843 |
| Symptoms in the last 2 days of life | |||||
| Shortness of breath | 31 (47.0) | 79 (71.2) | 93 (53.4) | 18 (52.9) | 0.005 |
| Pain | 36 (56.3) | 45 (40.9) | 95(57.2) | 19 (55.9) | 0.048 |
| Restlessness | 36 (55.4) | 73 (47.7) | 114 (67.5) | 17 (50.0) | 0.128 |
| Bereaved relatives characteristics | |||||
| Sex | |||||
| Female | 52 (80.0) | 96 (85.7) | 136 (80.0) | 25 (75.8) | 0.500 |
| Age, mean (SD, range) | 52.8 (14.8, 66.0) | 53.3 (12.2, 58.0) | 57.2 (12.1, 65.0) | 57.2 (12.1, 65.0) | 0.216 |
| Relation to patient | |||||
| Child | 28 (41.8) | 59 (52.2) | 106 (60.2) | 21 (60.0) | 0.079 |
| Partner | 10 (14.9) | 20 (17.7) | 18 (10.2) | 5 (14.3) | |
| Other family member | 25 (37.3) | 28 (24.8) | 45 (25.6) | 9 (25.7) | |
| Friend | 4 (6.0) | 6 (5.3) | 3 (1.7) | 0 | |
| Other | 0 | 0 | 4 (2.3) | 0 | |
| COVID-19 | |||||
| (Probably) yes | 3 (4.6) | 12 (10.7) | 2 (1.2) | 1 (3.0) | 0.000 |
| (Probably) no | 58 (89.2) | 80 (71.5) | 160 (93.0) | 29 (87.9) | |
| Unknown | 4 (6.2) | 20 (17.9) | 10 (5.8) | 3 (9.1) | |
a
Missing observations: age 6, shortness of breath 8, pain 19, restlessness 17. Bereaved relatives characteristics: sex 13, age 37, relation to patient 2, COVID-19 11.
b
More than one answer possible.
P-values marked with bold indicate statistically significant differences between settings.