Background: The input of informal caregivers is often considered a prerequisite for palliative home care and death at home. Object of study: In a current Swedish study (1), we found a group of patients that were living alone, and that died at home.We decided to have a further look at this subgroup.
Method: All patients with malignant disease in five Swedish palliative home care teams, that were admitted and died during 1999 were included in the original study. (n=221) Among them 52 were living alone. They were compared with the group as a whole.
Results: 35% of the persons living alone died at home. This group did not differ from the rest regarding severity of symtoms, age and mean time of care. 66% of the singles spontaneously expressed a wish to die at home, compared to 37% in the group as a whole (p=0.001)(2).
Conclusions: Patients living alone and dying at home in palliative home care were more common than we expected.As a group the singles did not differ from the others. However patients living alone that die at home, seem to have stronger motivation to do so.
References
1 Gyllenhammar E, Thoren-Todoulos E, Strang P: Predictive factors for home deaths among cancer patients in Swedish palliative home care (2003) Support Care in Cancer 11:560 - 567.
2 Gyllenhammar E, Thoren-Todoulos E, Strang P: Living alone and dying at home, Accepted for publication Palliative Medicine.