Anticipated deaths with physician care (mitori) at home in one town in Japan: A preliminary report

Nobuyuki Kajiwara; Shinya Suezaki; Megumi Okamoto; Yasuo Kuwahara; Masanori Okui; Akiyoshi Nishimura; Hirono Takabayashi

doi:10.1002/jgf2.648

Anticipated deaths with physician care (mitori) at home in one town in Japan: A preliminary report

J Gen Fam Med. 2023 Oct 3;24(6):352-355. doi: 10.1002/jgf2.648. eCollection 2023 Nov.

Authors

Nobuyuki Kajiwara^{1

2}, Shinya Suezaki³, Megumi Okamoto⁴, Yasuo Kuwahara⁵, Masanori Okui⁶, Akiyoshi Nishimura⁷, Hirono Takabayashi⁸

Affiliations

¹ Toyono Town National Health Insurance Clinic Toyono Japan.
² Department of Nephrology Ikeda City Hospital Ikeda Japan.
³ Fast Doctor Co., Ltd. Minato Japan.
⁴ Hoken-ka, Hokenfukushi-bu, Toyono Town Toyono Japan.
⁵ Toyono-gun Kankyoshisetsukumiai Toyono Japan.
⁶ Okui Clinic Nose Japan.
⁷ Department of Forensic Medicine, Institute of Health Biosciences Tokushima University Graduate School Tokushima Japan.
⁸ Ikeda Public Health Center Ikeda Japan.

Abstract

Background: There are few reports on the numbers of anticipated deaths (mitori [り]) at home in Japan.

Method: We used the Japanese death certificate system (shiboukohyou []) for Toyono town citizens who died between 2020 and 2022 and judged a death to constitute mitori when the certificate was not written by a doctor referred from the police.

Results: Among 756 deaths, 109 (14.4%) were mitori at home. Deaths at home were 144 and mitori at home accounted for 75.7%.

Conclusion: Shiboukohyou appear to provide numbers of mitori at home. Death certificate should include a space which shows mitori or not.

Keywords: Japanese death certificate system (shiboukohyou [死亡小票]); anticipated death (mitori [看取り]); death at home; home medical care; unnatural death [異状死].