Variations by age in symptoms and dependency levels experienced by people in the last year of life, as reported by surviving family, friends and officials

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Abstract
Objective: to explore the relationships between age, reported symptoms and dependency in the last year of life in those dying from cancer and in those dying from other causes. Design: secondary analysis of data from the Regional Study of Care for the Dying, a retrospective interview survey of deaths in 1990 in 20 nationally representative English health districts. There were 2061 cancer deaths and 1469 non-cancer deaths (sudden deaths were excluded). Main results: in cancer patients, the mean number of symptoms reported to have been experienced in the last year of life decreased with age (from 8.29 in those aged Conclusion: younger cancer patients are more likely than older cancer patients to need help with relieving distressing symptoms. However, some elderly patients were reported to have had very distressing symptoms, and these patients should not be excluded from specialist palliative care services on the basis of their age. Cancer patients did not show increased dependency with age, indicating the importance of community health and social services being appropriate for and accessible by cancer patients of all ages.

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