Characteristics of patients who died of cancer, heart failure or COPD in Denmark between 2006 and 2015
| Patient characteristics | Died of cancer (n=1 23 212) | Died of heart failure (n=9758) | Died of COPD (n=21 265) | Total (n=1 54 235) |
| Age, years | ||||
| Median (Q1; Q3) | 73.0 (64.3; 81.4) | 86.7 (79.0; 91.8) | 79.7 (72.5; 85.3) | 75.0 (65.7; 83.1) |
| Sex, n (%) | ||||
| Female | 59 645 (48.4) | 5225 (53.6) | 11 921 (56.1) | 76 791 (49.8) |
| Male | 63 567 (51.6) | 4533 (46.5) | 9344 (43.9) | 77 444 (50.2) |
| Partner status, n (%) | ||||
| Living alone | 57 671 (46.8) | 7250 (74.3) | 14 598 (68.7) | 79 519 (51.6) |
| Living with a partner | 65 541 (53.2) | 2503 (25.7) | 6667 (31.4) | 74 716 (48.4) |
| Geographical region of residence, n (%) | ||||
| North Denmark Region | 13 776 (11.2) | 1121 (11.5) | 2671 (12.6) | 17 568 (11.4) |
| Central Denmark Region | 26 623 (21.6) | 1936 (19.8) | 4624 (21.7) | 33 183 (21.5) |
| Region of Southern Denmark | 27 690 (22.5) | 2281 (23.4) | 4829 (22.7) | 34 800 (22.6) |
| Capital Region | 34 490 (28.0) | 2885 (29.6) | 5783 (27.2) | 43 158 (28.0) |
| Zealand Region | 20 633 (16.8) | 1535 (15.7) | 3358 (15.8) | 25 526 (16.6) |
| Admitted to hospital within 6 months before death, n (%) | 115 093 (93.4) | 7359 (75.4) | 17 387 (81.8) | 139 839 (90.7) |
| Admitted to hospital within 30 days before death, n (%) | 82 079 (66.6) | 5447 (55.8) | 13 624 (64.1) | 101 150 (65.6) |
| Comorbidity, points* | ||||
| 0 | 47 260 (38.4) | 3902 (40.0) | 11 307 (53.2) | 62 469 (40.5) |
| 1 | 16 704 (13.6) | 2491 (25.5) | 5660 (26.6) | 24 855 (16.1) |
| 2 to 3 | 15 290 (12.4) | 2401 (24.6) | 3384 (15.9) | 21 075 (13.7) |
| 4+ | 43 958 (35.7) | 964 (9.9) | 914 (4.3) | 45 836 (29.7) |
*Calculated according to Charlson Comorbidity Index, excluding underlying cause of death.
COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.