Resumen

CORTES PRADILLA, Henry; CORREA OSPINA, Olga Lucía  y  ALONSO-BABARRO, Alberto. Preference for Place of Death and Related Factors of the Elderly in the Mediterranean Isle of Ibiza. Rev. colomb. anestesiol. [online]. 2011, vol.39, n.2, pp.174-188. ISSN 0120-3347.  https://doi.org/10.5554/rca.v39i2.90.

Objective. To describe the preference for place of death among elderly people who consulted or were patients of some departments at a general hospital in the Baleares Islands (Spain) and potential relationship to other factors. Methods. Descriptive cross-sectional trial developed at a health care clinic in Ibiza and Forment-era, from February through August 2009. Participants: 105 ≥ 65 years of age. Results. The mean age was 75 ± 7 years old, 58 males (55.2 %). 67.6 % (95 % CI: 58.6-76.6) of the people surveyed said that their preferred death place was home; 6.7 % (95 % CI: 1.9-11.5) expressed their preference for acute care hospitals and 25.7 % (95 % C.I.: 17.3-34.1) preferred a hospital palliative care unit. Everyone chose quality palliative care versus euthanasia in the end-of-life stages. Conclusions. Since home was the preferred death place for most of the elderly, this option seems to be basically influenced by family ties and a sense of belonging, the presence of some kind of substance addiction or a largely disabling disease. With regards to the latter, an in-hospital palliative care unit was preferred.

Palabras clave : Attention; palliative care; home care services; death.

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