As life expectancy increases, more and more people are dying at increasingly older ages. They are often affected by multiple conditions such as dementia, heart disease and cancer, which complicates their end-of-life care. In the UK, in just a quarter of a century, the proportion of deaths occurring in people at the age of 85 or older has risen steeply. It was around 1 in 5 in 1990 and almost 1 out of 2 currently.

Our colleague Dr Jane Fleming and her team have recently published a paper in BMC Geriatrics on dying comfortably in this age group:

Fleming, J et al. Dying comfortably in very old age with or without dementia in different care settings – a representative “older old” population study. BMC Geriatrics; 26 Sept 2017; DOI: 10.1186/s12877-017-0605-2

This work is part of the The Cambridge City over – 75s Cohort Study.

You can find a summary of the paper findings here and a more extensive news coverage here.