Experiences and preferences of people in the last phase of life: results from the 11-country iLIVE Project

Recruitment, follow-up and survival in an 11-country cohort study of patients in the last days of life and their relatives

Dr Maria EC Schelin, Lund University, Sweden

This talk describes recruitment, follow-up and survival in a an 11-country cohort study of patients’ and relatives’ expectations, concerns and preferences at the end of life.  Patients were included on the basis of an adapted “surprise question” to assess patients' end of life status.  We collected patient and relative questionnaires (baseline and 1 month) and searched medical records for the date of death.  We found 11% of the screened patients eligible for inclusion and of those 1509 chose to participate, i.e. 6% of those initially screened.  699 patients (49%) participated in the 1-month follow-up, with proportions varying according to survival time, from 20% if the patient died at month 2, to 75% if the patient died at month 6.  

Death and dying…