Health and well-being in the year before death: the association with quality of life and care at the end-of-life

• Main Authors: Lee, Hyo Jung, Small, Brent J., Haley, William E.
• Other Authors: School of Social Sciences
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: Social sciences::Sociology; Late-Life Health And Well-Being; End-of-Life
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/160946
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Objective: We examined whether older adults' health and well-being during their final year of life predicts end-of-life (EOL) quality of life (QOL) and quality of care (QOC). Methods: Using data from deceased participants (n = 1125) in the 2011-2015 National Health and Aging Trends Study, we performed latent class analysis to identify profiles of health and well-being, and we examined the association between these classes and EOL QOL and QOC. Results: Four classes were identified: healthy/happy (20%), frail/happy (37%), cognitively impaired/moderately distressed (27%), and highly impaired/highly distressed (16%). Persons in the highly impaired/highly distressed class showed a poorer QOL at the EOL, whereas those in the healthy/happy class reported a lower level of QOC at the EOL. Discussion: The benefits of maintaining health and well-being often carry forward to EOL. Older adults with high impairment and distress merit greater attention such as assuring care and advance care plans.