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To the Editor: Transitions between care settings at the end of life can be burdensome for patients and their families. They also pose challenges to the continuity of care, jeopardizing patient safety and quality of care.¹ Previous research was limited to specific populations or settings or investigated single transitions (eg, hospital [re]admissions), often without specific end-of-life focus.^1-3 To our knowledge, no nationwide studies have examined transitions between end-of-life care settings for a population-based sample of dying persons. This study investigated the prevalence, types, and timing of transitions between end-of-life care settings in Belgium.

Methods

We performed a 1-year nationwide mortality follow-back study in 2005. Data were collected within the Sentinel Network Monitoring End-of-Life Care (SENTI-MELC) study. This study monitors end-of-life care in Belgium via the nationwide Sentinel Network of General Practitioners, an epidemiologic surveillance system representative (for age, sex, and region) of all 10 578 Belgian general practitioners.^4-5

All 205 general practitioners . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Lieve Van den Block, MA
lvdblock@vub.ac.be

Reginald Deschepper, PhD
End-of-Life Care Research Group
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Brussels, Belgium

Johan Bilsen, PhD
Bioethics Institute
Ghent University
Ghent, Belgium

Viviane Van Casteren, MD
Unit of Epidemiology
Scientific Institute of Public Health
Brussels, Belgium

Luc Deliens, PhD
Department of Public and Occupational Health and EMGO Institute
VU University Medical Centre
Amsterdam, the Netherlands

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