Background:

With the aim to inform end of life public policies, the place of death in Chile, its trends and associated factors were analysed.

Materials and Methods:

A cross sectional using publically available death database from 1990 to 2014 was conducted. The proportion of hospital deaths was selected as the main outcome. A logistic regression was used to assess the association between place of death, age, and main diagnosis at death. Also, a Prais-Winsten regression and a Chi2 test were used to assess a time series and regional analysis, respectively.

Results:

2,063,615 deaths were analysed. Overall, deaths 898,871 (43.6%) occurred at hospital. Those who died over 85 years (OR 2,52 IC95% 2.49-2.55) and those who died from cancer (OR 2.43 IC95% 2.42-2.45) had higher risk for dying outside de hospital. For the general population and those who die form cancer, there is no evidence for an increase or decrease trend in the proportion of hospital deaths over time (p = 0,75 and p = 0.68, respectively). However, there is an increase of the proportion of hospital deaths in those who died over 85 years (p < 0.001,27% in 1990 to 32% in 2014). Also, there are geographic differences between country regions (p < 0.001) (Eg. Magallanes 52.9%).

Conclusions:

The proportion of hospital deaths has been stable over time in the general population and has increased in those over 85 years.