What is it about?
The present nationwide study describes circumstances surrounding deaths that occur within a year after a stroke. Datasets from 3 nationwide Swedish registers (the Swedish Stroke Register Riksstroke, the Swedish Register of Palliative Care, and the Cause of Death Register) were linked. Basic information was available for 42,502 unselected cases of death that occurred within a year after a stroke.
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Why is it important?
The present results show that, in Sweden, the majority of patients who die between one month and one year after a stroke are living in nursing homes and that only one in ten deaths occur at home during this period. In the 3-12-month interval after stroke, more than a third of deaths occur in the hospital, usually after readmission.
Perspectives
We found that very few stroke patients died at home but it may be that when faced with a highly pressing situation at the end of life, death in an institution is accepted or even preferred. Many patients die without a next of kin present; in fact, many deaths during the first year after stroke are unattended. There is considerable discordance between presumed ‘good death’ late after stroke (dying at home surrounded by family members) and the actual circumstances at the end of life.
Birgitta Stegmayr
Umea University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: End of life after stroke: A nationwide study of 42,502 deaths occurring within a year after stroke, European Stroke Journal, October 2017, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/2396987317736202.
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