Factors related to illnessEvidence

Factors related to illnessEvidence was highly consistent for three factors: non-solid tumours, length of disease, and functional status (table 2). Except in one dataset, low functional status was associated with dying at home. Functional status was usually assessed when the patient was admitted to the service, not at the time shortly before death. There were conflicting results for pain: two studies reported no effect, and two suggested that people who die at home may experience more pain. There were few data on the influence of other symptoms and comorbidities, though two studies showed that people with more than one illness were more likely to die in hospital.