Factors relating to place of death of Japanese people from a small town ina rural area

The objective of our retrospective study was to clarify factors relating to place of death of Japanese people from a small town in a rural area who ha d been bedridden for at least one week before dying. The caregivers of subj ects aged 40 and above who died during a three-year period were surveyed by trained interviewers. Of 352 subjects who died, 312 caregivers responded a nd agreed to a face-to-face interview. A total of 213 subjects were conside red as an eligible sample. The main outcome measures were odds ratios for d eath at home in relation to age, pain, cause of death, and home visit servi ce. One hundred and two people died at home, while 112 people died in a hos pital. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the probabilit y of home death increased with age of the bedridden, lack of pain during th e bedridden period, not having cancer as a cause of death, having senility as a cause of death, and receiving regular home visits by a Public Health N urse. In conclusion, expansion of the home visit programs by Public Health Nurses may enable people to die at home as they so desire. Further prospect ive research is needed to explore the association between the attitude towa rd terminal care and the place of death.