Table 1 Characteristics of the sample stratified for psychiatric disorder, dementia, and/or an accumulation of health problems
|  | Psychiatric disorder Total n = 183 | Dementia Total n = 803 | Accumulation of health problems Total n = 918 | All deceased patients who died non-suddenly Total n = 5361 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
N | %1 | N | %1 | N | %1 | N | %1 | |
Patient characteristics | ||||||||
 Sex | ||||||||
  Male | 91 | 39.1 | 305 | 35.4 | 321 | 32.3 | 2672 | 45.9 |
  Female | 92 | 60.9 | 498 | 64.6 | 597 | 67.7 | 2689 | 54.1 |
 Age | ||||||||
  17–64 | 63 | 19.7 | 7 | 0.8 | 2 | 0.0 | 1028 | 12.6 |
  65–79 | 48 | 22.4 | 158 | 17.4 | 101 | 8.8 | 1936 | 30.6 |
  80+ | 72 | 57.8 | 638 | 81.8 | 815 | 91.1 | 2397 | 56.8 |
 Marital status | ||||||||
  Married | 45 | 21.2 | 257 | 29.8 | 221 | 21.9 | 2538 | 41.7 |
  Unmarried | 138 | 78.8 | 546 | 70.2 | 697 | 78.1 | 2823 | 58.3 |
 Ethnicity* | ||||||||
  Non-Western immigrants | 27 | 3.7 | 74 | 1.5 | 87 | 1.9 | 605 | 2.9 |
  Dutch, Western immigrants | 133 | 96.3 | 729 | 98.5 | 829 | 98.1 | 4722 | 97.1 |
 Cause of death | ||||||||
  Cancer | 50 | 15.4 | 108 | 6.1 | 179 | 9.6 | 3128 | 37.1 |
  Cardiovascular disorder | 13 | 8.8 | 82 | 10.4 | 197 | 22.1 | 540 | 14.9 |
  Pulmonary disorder | 14 | 11.9 | 43 | 7.0 | 104 | 13.7 | 285 | 8.5 |
  Neurological disorder | 27 | 16.4 | 195 | 25.3 | 138 | 15.6 | 518 | 12.5 |
  Other | 79 | 47.5 | 375 | 51.2 | 300 | 38.9 | 890 | 27.0 |
Care characteristics | ||||||||
 Attending physician | ||||||||
  General practitioner | 92 | 30.7 | 221 | 24.0 | 514 | 52.5 | 3301 | 50.0 |
  Medical specialist | 28 | 17.5 | 43 | 6.2 | 105 | 12.5 | 897 | 21.0 |
  Elderly care physician | 63 | 51.8 | 539 | 69.8 | 299 | 35.0 | 1163 | 29.1 |
 Involvement of palliative care consultant/team | ||||||||
  No | 164 | 91.5 | 761 | 95.4 | 842 | 92.5 | 4360 | 85.1 |
  Yes | 19 | 8.5 | 42 | 4.6 | 76 | 7.5 | 1001 | 14.9 |
 Pain specialist | ||||||||
  No | 178 | 98.5 | 801 | 99.7 | 905 | 98.9 | 5166 | 97.5 |
  Yes | 5 | 1.5 | 2 | 0.3 | 13 | 1.1 | 195 | 2.5 |
 Psychiatrist/psychologist | ||||||||
  No | 116 | 65.3 | 689 | 86.3 | 859 | 94.3 | 5050 | 93.8 |
  Yes | 67 | 34.7 | 114 | 13.7 | 59 | 5.7 | 311 | 6.2 |
 Pastor | ||||||||
  No | 156 | 82.3 | 676 | 84.4 | 782 | 84.6 | 4698 | 86.9 |
  Yes | 27 | 17.7 | 127 | 15.2 | 136 | 15.4 | 663 | 13.1 |