Home › Research › End-of-life care
The 'natural' endpoint of dementia: death from cachexia or dehydration following palliative care?
Koopmans RT, van der Sterren KJ, van der Steen JT.. International journal of geriatric psychiatry, 2007-04-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Objectives To investigate the causes of death in nursing home patients with dementia, and to compare causes of death in patients who survive until the final phase of dementia with those who die before reaching that phase, adjusted for potential confounders. Design Observational analysis of a cohort of patients with a prospective follow-up. Setting Psychogeriatric nursing home 'Joachim en Anna' in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Participants Eight hundred and ninety dementia patients admitted between 1980 and 1989. All patients were followed until death. Measurements The final phase of dementia was defined as total impairment on 20 items of a functional status questionnaire. Immediate causes of death (part 1a of the Dutch death certificate) were classified by the International Classification of Health Problems in Primary Care. Results The three most important reported immediate causes of death were cachexia/dehydration (35.2%), cardio-vascular disorders (20.9%) and acute pulmonary diseases (20.1%), mainly pneumonia. Cachexia/dehydration was particularly common as a cause of death of patients who survived to the final phase (53.2%); survival to the final phase of dementia was an independent predictor of cachexia/dehydration as an immediate cause of death with reference to cardiovascular disorders in multinomial regression adjusted for age at death, gender, and type of dementia. Conclusion Patients who survive to the final phase of dementia are more likely to die from cachexia or dehydration than those who die before. The findings contribute to a debate on what should be reported as the immediate cause of death in dementia including perspectives from a palliative care viewpoint.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Koopmans, R. T., van der Sterren, K. J., & van der Steen, J. T. (2007). The 'natural' endpoint of dementia: death from cachexia or dehydration following palliative care? International journal of geriatric psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.1680
Vancouver
Koopmans RT, van der Sterren KJ, van der Steen JT. The 'natural' endpoint of dementia: death from cachexia or dehydration following palliative care? International journal of geriatric psychiatry. 2007. doi:10.1002/gps.1680. PMID: 17022107.
BibTeX
@article{koopmans2007-17022107,
author = {Koopmans, R. T. and van der Sterren, K. J. and van der Steen, J. T.},
title = {{The 'natural' endpoint of dementia: death from cachexia or dehydration following palliative care?}},
journal = {International journal of geriatric psychiatry},
year = {2007},
doi = {10.1002/gps.1680},
pmid = {17022107},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.1680}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- Results The three most important reported immediate causes of death were cachexia/dehydration (35.2%), cardio-vascular disorders (20.9%) and acute pulmonary diseases (20.1%), mainly pneumonia.
Study details
- Effect size35.2%; 20.9%; 20.1%
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 43/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 25 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 43 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (International journal of geriatric psychiatry) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 3 / 5 | Rated “moderate” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2007 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 2 / 3 | Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 17022107) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 25 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 25 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 43 out of 100. |
| Total | 43 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
Free copy unknown: no free-copy check has an answer for this record yet. That does not mean it is paywalled.
Related
Studies in the library that share something with this one. The line above each title says what.
Related studies in End-of-life care
Also tagged “care”
995 studies in the library carry the topic tag “care”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 995 tagged studies.