Aim: To assess factors associated with home deaths in non-cancer elderly patients receiving home medical care by general practitioners.
Methods: A retrospective observational study was carried out in a primary care clinic in Tokyo. Patients who received home medical care and died between January 2010 and September 2017 were included in the analysis. Data from 119 non-cancer patients aged ≥65 years were collected between September and December 2017 using medical records. Patient characteristics, comorbidities, cognitive impairment, duration of home medical care, number of household members, patient's relationship with their primary caregiver, use of home care nursing services, and patient and family preference on place of death were obtained as independent variables. The main outcome was the place of death.
Results: Among the analyzed patients, 59.7% had impaired cognition and 47.1% expressed a preference for place of death. Patient-family congruence on the preferred place of death was 57.1% (kappa coefficient 0.39). Multivariate analysis showed that family preference for home death (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 137.0, 95% CI 13.0-1443.8), cognitive impairment (aOR 4.26, 95% CI 1.12-16.2), death by non-infectious diseases (aOR 13.7, 95% CI 2.50-74.7) and living with more than two family members (aOR 4.79, 95%CI 1.38-16.7) were significantly associated with home deaths.
Conclusions: Family preference, rather than patient preference, was a facilitating factor for home death among non-cancer older patients receiving home medical care. As many patients receiving home medical care have impaired cognition, early end-of-life discussions with patients and decision-making support for caregivers should be promoted to realize their preferences on place of death. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2019; 19: 1231-1235.
Keywords: elderly; home death; preference.
© 2019 Japan Geriatrics Society.