TY - JOUR

T1 - Final transitions to place of death

T2 - Patients and families wishes

AU - EURO-IMPACT

AU - Van Den Block, Lieve

AU - Ko, Winne

AU - Miccinesi, Guido

AU - Moreels, Sarah

AU - Donker, Ge A.

AU - Onwuteaka-Philipsen, Bregje

AU - Alonso, Tomas V.

AU - Deliens, Luc

AU - Van Den Block, Lieve

AU - De Groote, Zeger

AU - Brearley, Sarah

AU - Augusto, Caraceni

AU - Joachim, Cohen

AU - Anneke, Francke

AU - Richard, Harding

AU - Irene, Higginson

AU - Stein, Kaasa

AU - Karen, Linden

AU - Guido, Miccinesi

AU - Bregje, Onwuteaka Philipsen

AU - Roeline, Pasman

AU - Sophie, Pautex

AU - Payne, Sheila

AU - Luc, Deliens

PY - 2017/12/1

Y1 - 2017/12/1

N2 - Purpose This four-country study (Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain) examines prevalence and types of final transitions between care settings of cancer patients and the extent to which patient/family wishes are cited as a reason for the transition. Methods Data were collected from the EUROSENTI- MELC study over a 2-year period. General practitioners within existing Sentinel Networks registered weekly all deaths of patients within practices using a standardized questionnaire. This registration included place of care in the final 3 months and wishes for the final transition to place of death. All non-sudden deaths due to cancer (+18 years) were included in the analyses. Results We included 2048 non-sudden cancer deaths; 63% of patients had at least one transition between care settings in the final 3 months of life. ‘Hospital death from home’ (25–55%) and ‘home death from hospital’ (16–30%) were the most frequent types of final transitions in all countries. Patients’ or families’ wishes were mentioned as a reason for a final transition in 5–27% (P < 0.001) and 10–22% (P = 0.002) across countries. Conclusions ‘Hospital deaths from home’ is the most prevalent final transition in three of four countries studied, in a significant minority of cases because of patient/family wishes.

AB - Purpose This four-country study (Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain) examines prevalence and types of final transitions between care settings of cancer patients and the extent to which patient/family wishes are cited as a reason for the transition. Methods Data were collected from the EUROSENTI- MELC study over a 2-year period. General practitioners within existing Sentinel Networks registered weekly all deaths of patients within practices using a standardized questionnaire. This registration included place of care in the final 3 months and wishes for the final transition to place of death. All non-sudden deaths due to cancer (+18 years) were included in the analyses. Results We included 2048 non-sudden cancer deaths; 63% of patients had at least one transition between care settings in the final 3 months of life. ‘Hospital death from home’ (25–55%) and ‘home death from hospital’ (16–30%) were the most frequent types of final transitions in all countries. Patients’ or families’ wishes were mentioned as a reason for a final transition in 5–27% (P < 0.001) and 10–22% (P = 0.002) across countries. Conclusions ‘Hospital deaths from home’ is the most prevalent final transition in three of four countries studied, in a significant minority of cases because of patient/family wishes.

KW - advanced cancer

KW - Care settings

KW - General practitioners

KW - Place of death

KW - Transitions

KW - Wishes

U2 - 10.1093/pubmed/fdw097

DO - 10.1093/pubmed/fdw097

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 27694347

AN - SCOPUS:85042450610

VL - 39

SP - e302-e311

JO - Journal of Public Health (United Kingdom)

JF - Journal of Public Health (United Kingdom)

SN - 1741-3842

IS - 4

ER -