Actual and preferred place of @entity5 XXXX . Results from the Italian survey of the dying of @entity5 (ISDOC).

@entity5 @entity1 @entity204
OBJECTIVE: To describe actual and preferred place of @entity204 of Italian @entity5 @entity1 and to analyse the preferences met regarding the place of @entity204 . DESIGN: Mortality follow back survey of 2000 @entity5 deaths, identified with a two stage probability sample representative of the whole country. Information on @entity1 ' experience was gathered from the non-professional caregiver with an interview. A section of the interview covered information on the actual and preferred place of @entity204 of the @entity1 . SETTING: 30 Italian local health districts randomly selected after stratification in four geographical areas. @entity1 : 1900 of 2000 (95.0%) caregivers of @entity5 deaths identified. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Prevalence of actual and preferred places of @entity204 . RESULTS: Valid interviews were obtained for 66.9% (n = 1271) of the caregivers. Place of @entity204 was home for 57.9% of Italian @entity5 @entity1 , hospital for 34.6%, hospice for 0.7%, nursing home for 6.5%, and ambulance for 0.4%. Wide and significant differences within Italy were seen (home deaths ranged between 94.0% in the south and 28.2% in the north east). Home was the preferred place of @entity204 for 93.5% of @entity1 that expressed a preference, with minimal differences within the country (between 89.5% and 99.0%). Overall 67.1% of the sample died in the place where they preferred to die. CONCLUSIONS: Policymakers should encourage health services to focus on ways of meeting individual preferences on place of @entity204 . As home was the preferred place of @entity204 for most @entity5 @entity1 , effective programmes to enable the @entity1 to remain at home should be implemented.
