'Til Death Do Us Part: End-of-Life Experiences of Married Couples in a Nationally Representative Survey.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

To determine whether end-of-life (EOL) experiences in the first spouse in a marriage are associated with EOL experiences in the other spouse.

Design

Nationally representative, longitudinal survey.

Setting

Health and Retirement Study, Waves 1992-2012 linked to Medicare claims PARTICIPANTS: Community-dwelling older adults who died (N=4,558), representing 2,279 married heterosexual couples.

Measurements

We examined 3 EOL experiences: enrollment in hospice for >3 days before death, lack of advance care planning (ACP) before death, and intensive care unit (ICU) use during the last 30 days of life. We used multiple logistic regression to determine whether the EOL experience of the first spouse was a significant predictor of the EOL experience of the second

SUBMITTER: Kotwal AA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6289600 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature