Addressing Myths about End-of-Life Care: Research into the Use of Acute Care Hospitals over the Last Five Years of Life

Despite very little confirming evidence, one of the most pervasive beliefs about dying is that terminally ill people receive a great deal of health care in the last few days, weeks, or months of life. A secondary analysis of 1992/93 through 1996/97 Alberta inpatient hospital abstracts data was undertaken to explore and describe hospital use over the five years before death by all Albertans who died in acute care hospital beds during the 1996/97 year (n=7,429). There were four key findings: (1) hospital use varied, but was most often low, (2) the last hospital stay was infrequently resource intensive, (3) age, gender, and illness did not distinguish use, and (4) most ultra-high users were rural residents, with the majority of care episodes taking place in small, rural hospitals.