The Preference of Place of Death and its Predictors Among Terminally Ill Patients With Cancer and Their Caregivers in China

Abstract

Purpose:

To describe the preference of place of death among Chinese patients with cancer and their caregivers and to identify factors associated with the preference.

Methods:

A prospective questionnaire research was conducted in terminally ill patients with cancer and their caregivers. Questions included sociodemographic characteristics and information about patients’ diseases and patients’ preference of place of death.

Results:

Home (53.64%) was the first choice for 522 patients, 51.34% of participated caregivers chose home as the preferred place of death, and patient–caregiver dyads achieved 84.10% agreement. Patients who lived in rural area, with lower education level and lived with relatives, expressed more preference to die at home.

Conclusion:

This study described information about the preference of place of death and its potential predictive factors in terminally ill patients with cancer in mainland of China.

Keywords

palliative care terminally ill cancer place of death patients’ preference decision making home death

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