An international study examining cross-national patterns in place of death using death certificate data
Abstract project
Background
Death certificate data provide a unique opportunity for crossnational studying and monitoring of place of death. In the 2003 Dying Well in Europe study all partners negotiated a dataset containing all deaths over one year with their national/regional administration of mortality statistics, including information about place of death as well as a number of clinical, sociodemographic, residential and healthcare system factors identified in the relevant literature. This dataset resulted in a number of national and international comparative papers.
Aims
It is the aim of the International Place Of Death (IPD) Study to replicate the Dying Well in Europe study for all deaths in 2008 and to include more countries, both European and non- European.
Goals of the study:
• to collect death certificate data for mortality for a full year (preferably 2008) in several countries from different continents, and merge these data into one common file
• to examine and explain cross national differences and similarities in place of death for a number of specific patient groups (eg cancer patients, neurological patients, older
patients, rural patients, etc.)
• to examine changes in place of death between 2003 and 2008 in the countries included in the Dying Well Study
• to assist researchers and policy makers who want to use the dataset or parts of the dataset to answer specific research/ policy questions
• to explore what additional clinical data on deaths can be obtained.
Methods
The study will collect and integrate death certificate data from the following countries:
Austria, Belgium, Denmark, England, France, Georgia, Germany, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Wales, Canada, USA, New Zealand, Australia (Victoria), Japan, Taiwan, Argentina, Mexico
