Circumstances in the last 3 days of life were examined for a sample of
1,227 elderly decedents in Fairfield County, Connecticut, in 1985. In
terviews were with a surviving next-of-kin or a nonrelative about 3 mo
nths after the event of death. Most decedents were in a hospital or a
nursing home the night before death (45% and 24%, respectively). In th
e days preceding death, about 34% of the decedents knew that death was
impending and about 40% had difficulty recognizing family members. Th
ese and other findings support the need for elderly people to complete
advance directives.