Centre for Policy on Ageing



Is it ever enough to die of old age?
Author(s)	Clare L Hawley
Journal title	Age and Ageing, vol 32, no 5, September 2003
Pages	pp 484-486
Keywords	Death rate [statistics] ; Death certificates ; Cremation ; Longitudinal surveys ; Chesterfield.
Annotation	The author receives an increasing number of cremation forms each year at Chesterfield and District Crematorium in which "old age" is given as the immediate case of death. Of 4,300 cremation papers studied over a 2-year period (May 1999-April 2001), 300 (7%) of deaths were said to be associated with old age, of which 98 were attributed to old age alone. Simple further enquiry discovered between one and six unrecorded co-morbid conditions in at least two-thirds of those certified as dying solely from old age. If this experience were reflected throughout the country, it would suggest significant underestimation of the incidence of medical conditions, with resultant effects on national and international health policy and investment. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-031022201 A
Classmark	S5: JVL: OXH: 3J: 8DBC
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing

...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.