Table 2 Demographic, diagnostic, and clinical characteristics of individuals across the four indicators of a bad death

Median age (IQR)

83.0 (13.0)

83.0 (13.0)

83.0 (13.0)

81.0 (14.0)

84.0 (12.0)

81.0 (16.0)

83.0 (13.0)

81.0 (17.0)

Age (years)

18–64

8.0 (1160)

8.8 (179)

7.5 (1083)

11.6 (256)

6.9 (938)

13.8 (401)

7.5 (1131)

14.2 (208)

65–74

11.8 (1711)

11.9 (242)

11.4 (1632)

14.6 (321)

11.2 (1530)

14.6 (423)

11.5 (1732)

15.1 (221)

75–84

29.5 (4300)

27.1 (549)

28.9 (4155)

31.5 (694)

29.3 (4009)

28.9 (840)

29.2 (4421)

29.2 (428)

85+

50.7 (7386)

52.2 (1059)

52.2 (7513)

42.3 (932)

52.7 (7205)

42.7 (1240)

51.8 (7837)

41.5 (608)

Sex

Male

46.2 (6730)

38.8 (788)

46.1 (6627)

40.4 (891)

46.1 (6307)

41.7 (1211)

45.7 (6905)

41.9 (613)

Female

53.8 (7826)

61.2 (1241)

53.9 (7755)

59.6 (1312)

53.9 (7375)

58.3 (1692)

54.3 (8216)

58.1 (851)

Marital status

Never married

4.3 (632)

5.2 (105)

4.5 (643)

4.3 (94)

4.4 (599)

4.8 (138)

4.4 (665)

4.9 (72)

Married

42.1 (6127)

18.7 (379)

39.0 (5615)

40.4 (891)

39.1 (5354)

39.7 (1152)

39.1 (5915)

40.3 (591)

Widowed

39.7 (5776)

53.2 (1079)

41.8 (6015)

38.1 (840)

41.8 (5715)

39.3 (1140)

41.6 (6286)

38.8 (569)

Separated/ divorced

6.0 (877)

9.8 (198)

6.2 (887)

8.5 (188)

5.9 (813)

9.0 (262)

6.3 (949)

8.6 (126)

Other

7.9 (1145)

13.2 (268)

8.5 (1223)

8.6 (190)

8.8 (1201)

7.3 (212)

8.6 (1306)

7.3 (107)

Education

Less than high school

32.7 (4766)

38.9 (789)

33.5 (4819)

33.4 (736)

33.5 (4583)

33.5 (972)

33.6 (5083)

32.2 (472)

High school

16.1 (2337)

18.4 (374)

16.3 (2338)

16.9 (373)

16.2 (2222)

16.8 (489)

16.3 (2457)

17.3 (254)

Some college or university/technical/ trade school

13.4 (1943)

13.8 (280)

13.5 (1940)

12.9 (283)

13.4 (1827)

13.6 (396)

13.4 (2024)

13.6 (199)

Post-secondary

9.9 (1438)

8.2 (167)

9.8 (1403)

9.2 (202)

9.8 (1337)

9.2 (268)

9.7 (1468)

9.4 (137)

Unknown

28.0 (4073)

20.7 (419)

27.0 (3883)

27.6 (609)

27.1 (3713)

26.8 (779)

27.0 (4089)

27.5 (403)

Disease diagnosis (present)

Alzheimer’s dementia

7.5 (1091)

3.3 (67)

7.3 (1056)

4.6 (102)

7.8 (1060)

3.4 (98)

7.3 (1110)

3.3 (48)

Other type of dementia

24.8 (3608)

21.0 (425)

24.2 (3485)

24.9 (548)

26.2 (3578)

15.7 (455)

25.2 (3814)

15.0 (219)

Multiple sclerosis

0.7 (96)

0.9 (19)

0.7 (101)

0.6 (14)

0.7 (90)

0.9 (25)

0.7 (103)

0.8 (12)

Parkinson’s disease

5.0 (728)

3.8 (78)

4.9 (702)

4.7 (104)

5.1 (699)

3.7(107)

5.0 (761)

3.1 (45)

Cancer

27.2 (3961)

21.2 (430)

26.4 (3794)

27.1 (597)

25.3 (3460)

32.1 (931)

25.9 (3912)

32.7 (479)

Congestive heart failure

25.9 (3770)

30.4 (617)

26.4 (3791)

27.1 (596)

26.5 (3620)

26.4 (767)

26.4 (3996)

26.7 (391)

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

26.5 (3850)

35.5 (721)

27.1 (3903)

30.3 (668)

27.3 (3734)

28.8 (837)

27.4 (4138)

29.6 (433)

Renal failure

15.1 (2192)

16.8 (341)

15.1 (2167)

16.6 (366)

14.8 (2021)

17.6 (512)

15.1 (2284)

17.0 (249)

Stroke

20.4 (2974)

19.9 (404)

20.6 (2957)

19.1 (421)

21.0 (2878)

17.2 (500)

20.8 (3139)

16.3 (239)

Coronary artery disease

32.6 (4745)

36.2 (735)

33.1 (4756)

32.9 (724)

32.7 (4480)

34.5 (1000)

32.8 (4960)

35.5 (520)

Arthritis

50.3 (7316)

62.0 (1257)

51.2 (7362)

55.0 (1211)

49.8 (6819)

60.4 (1754)

50.7 (7660)

62.4 (913)

Hemiplegia

2.5 (356)

2.6 (52)

2.5 (353)

2.5 (55)

2.4 (331)

2.7 (77)

2.4 (366)

2.9 (42)

Any psychiatric diagnosis^a

14.8 (2148)

24.6 (500)

n/a

n/a

15.3 (2091)

19.2 (557)

15.7 (2366)

19.3 (282)

Multi-morbidity

0–4

51.0 (7416)

41.8 (848)

50.6 (7282)

44.6 (982)

50.6 (6929)

46.0 (1335)

50.2 (7584)

46.5 (680)

5+

49.1 (7140)

58.2 (1181)

49.4 (7101)

55.4 (1220)

49.4 (6753)

54.0 (1568)

49.8 (7537)

53.5 (784)

Depression Rating Scale (DRS)

No/moderate signs/symptoms of depression (0–4)

88.9 (12941)

71.1 (1442)

n/a^b

n/a^b

88.9 (12166)

76.3 (2217)

88.0 (13300)

73.9 (1083)

Severe signs or symptoms of depression (5+)

11.1 (1616)

28.9 (587)

n/a^b

n/a^b

11.1 (1516)

23.7 (687)

12.0 (1821)

26.1 (382)

Activities of Daily Living Self-Performance Hierarchy Scale (ADL-SHS)

Independent/minor supervision (0–1)

26.3 (3833)

34.0 (690)

28.3 (4067)

20.7 (456)

27.6 (3774)

25.8 (749)

27.3 (4133)

26.6 (390)

Moderate/severe dependence (2+)

73.7 (10724)

66.0 (1339)

71.7 (10316)

79.3 (1747)

72.4 (9908)

74.2 (2155)

72.7 (10988)

73.4 (1075)

Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) Involvement Scale

None/minor difficulty (0–13)

19.4 (2733)

28.9 (551)

21.3 (2947)

15.8 (337)

20.0 (2632)

23.1 (652)

20.2 (2940)

24.0 (344)

Moderate/major difficulty (14+)

80.6 (11340)

71.1 (1357)

78.7 (10906)

84.2 (1791)

80.0 (10530)

76.9 (2167)

79.8 (11610)

76.0 (1087)

Cognitive Performance Scale (CPS)

No/mild cognitive challenges (0–1)

30.1 (4379)

31.3 (635)

31.3 (4500)

23.3 (514)

28.9 (3959)

36.3 (1055)

29.7 (4487)

36.0 (527)

Moderate/severe cognitive challenges (2+)

69.9 (10178)

68.7 (1394)

68.7 (9883)

76.7 (1689)

71.1 (9723)

63.7 (1849)

70.3 (10634)

64.0 (938)

Caregiver Risk Evaluation (CaRE)

Low

15.1 (2103)

25.8 (477)

17.2 (2341)

11.4 (239)

16.6 (2152)

15.5 (428)

16.4 (2349)

16.4 (231)

Moderate

24.5 (3400)

9.7 (179)

26.2 (3579)

n/a^c

24.5 (3176)

14.6 (403)

23.7 (3401)

12.7 (178)

High

37.8 (5245)

49.8 (920)

36.5 (4978)

56.7 (1187)

37.4 (4855)

47.3 (1310)

38.1 (5467)

49.6 (698)

Very high

22.7 (3147)

14.7 (272)

20.2 (2752)

31.9 (667)

21.5 (2791)

22.7 (628)

21.8 (3120)

21.3 (299)