Table 1

Characteristics of people who died non-suddenly

	BE (N=1596)		NL (N=633)		IT (N=1827)		ES (N=735)		p Value†
Patient characteristics*	n	Per cent	n	Per cent	n	Per cent	n	Per cent	p Value†
Age (years)
18–64	217	14	117	19	229	13	74	10	<0.001
65–84	750	47	316	50	857	47	331	45
≥85	617	39	200	32	741	41	330	45
Gender
Female	864	54	331	53	973	53	333	46	0.001
Male	727	46	295	47	854	47	395	54
Cause of death
Cancer	590	37	334	53	824	46	272	38	<0.001
Cardiovascular diseases	236	15	93	15	374	21	145	20
Respiratory diseases	170	11	49	8	130	7	83	12
Diseases of the nervous system	113	7	19	3	105	6	36	5
Stroke	109	7	24	4	180	10	62	9
Other	376	24	112	18	170	10	122	17
Place of death
Home	367	23	276	44	846	46	338	46	<0.001
Hospital	580	36	177	28	716	39	274	37
Nursing home/care home	499	31	114	18	164	9	86	12
Hospice/PCU	150	9	66	10	101	6	37	5
Longest place of residence in the last year of life
At home/with family	1041	67	490	79	1691	94	637	89	<0.001
Nursing home/care home	507	33	134	22	111	6	78	11
Presence of dementia
Yes (mild or severe)	492	31	79	13	521	29	215	30	<0.001
No	1078	69	532	87	1280	71	495	70

Percentages are rounded and therefore may not add up to 100.
*Missing data: age: n=12 (0.3%), cause of death: n=63 (1.3%), longest place of residence in the last year of life: n=28 (0.6%), presence of dementia: n=47 (1.0%).
†Pearson χ² test.
BE, Belgium; ES, Spain; IT, Italy; NL, the Netherlands; PCU, palliative care unit.