Dying From COVID-19: Loneliness, End-of-Life Discussions, and Support for Patients and Their Families in Nursing Homes and Hospitals. A National Register Study.
Department of Oncology-Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; R & D Department, Stockholms Sjukhem Foundation, Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: peter.strang@ki.se.
Preparation for an impending death through end-of-life (EOL) discussions and human presence when a person is dying is important for both patients and families.
The aim was to study whether EOL discussions were offered and to what degree patients were alone at time of death when dying from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), comparing deaths in nursing homes and hospitals.
The national Swedish Register of Palliative Care was used. All expected deaths from COVID-19 in nursing homes and hospitals were compared with, and contrasted to, deaths in a reference population (deaths in 2019).
A total of 1346 expected COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes (n = 908) and hospitals (n = 438) were analyzed. Those who died were of a more advanced age in nursing homes (mean 86.4 years) and of a lower age in hospitals (mean 80.7 years) (P