• David C Currow, Catherine M Burns, and Amy P Abernethy.
• Department of Palliative and Supportive Services, Flinders University, Bedford Park, South Australia.
• J Palliat Care. 2008 Jan 1;24(3):144-50.

AbstractA large representative population survey of 9,500 households reports the association between place of death, diagnosis (cancer vs. noncancer), and use of palliative care services of terminally ill South Australians. Thirty-one percent (1,920) indicated that someone close to them had died of a terminal illness in the preceding five years; 18% had died of noncancer illness and 82% of cancer. Sixty-two percent of deceased individuals accessed palliative care services. More patients with cancer than noncancer had had palliative care (65% vs. 48%; p < 0.0001). Compared with cancer patients, those with noncancer illness had died in hospices less frequently (9% vs. 15%; p = 0.0015) and in nursing homes more frequently (15% vs. 5%; p < 0.0001). Similar proportions had died in hospital (60%) and at home (16%-20%). Palliative care service involvement did not reduce institutional deaths, but shifted them from hospital to hospice.

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