Place of death from dementia as an underlying cause during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan: a cross-sectional study from national death certificates

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has challenged palliative end-of-life care for people with dementia. The site of death can be considered as an end-of-life care quality indicator. Most people with dementia prefer to die at nursing or private homes; however, in Japan, they are often hospitalized in psychiatric hospitals for management of neuropsychiatric symptoms. As palliative end-of-life care for older adults with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias has been further challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic, little is known about its effects on the place of death in patients with dementia. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the shifts in place of death from dementia during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan. Changes throughout the pandemic were compared between deaths from dementia and from senility. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. METHODS: Death certificate data of individuals aged 65 years or older who died in Japan between 1 January 2018, and 31 December 2021, were used to extract the cause and place of death. Differences in place of death between the periods were estimated using multinomial logistic analysis with reference to death in private homes. RESULTS: Deaths from dementia mostly occurred in hospitals (59%), while deaths from senility were most frequent in nursing homes (37%). After adjusting for patient characteristics, the likelihood of hospital deaths significantly increased for patients with dementia during the pandemic. Meanwhile, the likelihood of senility deaths decreased in hospitals but increased in nursing homes during the pandemic. CONCLUSION: The shift to hospital deaths since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic was uniquely observed in deaths from dementia. This hospital shift likely involved increased transfers from nursing and private homes to psychiatric hospitals. Further investigation is needed to examine the association between the pandemic-related change in long-term care workforce and palliative care practice in people with dementia.