[Death at home: home care for terminal cancer patients]

For the past seven years, we provided home hospice care for 26 terminal cancer patients. Seven patients died at home and nineteen patients were readmitted and died in our hospital. There was no difference in the mean age, sex, primary disease, nutrition management, pain control, informing of disease between the patients who died at home and the patients who died in the hospital was longer than that of patients who died at home. According to our questionnaire on home care, the satisfaction of patients and their families with home care was more than 80% in both groups. But patients who died at home needed more care than patients who died in the hospital because the former had more care helpers than the latter. In fact, only patient's families as care helpers and often took care of their patient. Both the physical and mental burden of patient's families increased, at last it was too difficult for them to continue home care. Therefore the home care system must be arranged support both the mental and physical status of the patients and their families.