Approaching Death

Table 5.1 Symptoms Reported in 1969 and 1987 for Cancer and Other Deaths in Two English Studies

	Cancer deaths(%)		Other deaths(%)		All deaths(%)
	1969	1987	1969	1987	1969	1987

Pain	87	84	58	67^a	66	72^a
Trouble with breathing	47	47	44	49	45	49
Vomiting, feeling sick	54	51	21	27^a	30	33
Sleeplessness	69	51^a	41	36	49	40^a
Mental confusion	36	33	36	38	36	37
Depression	45	38	31	36	36	36
Loss of appetite	76	71	37	38	48	47
Constipation	42	47	23	32^a	28	36
Bedsores	24	28	13	14	16	18
Loss of bladder control	37	25^a	24	55	28	23^a
Unpleasant smell	26	19	11	13	15	14
Number of deaths (=100%)^b	215	168	570	471	785	639

^aDifference between 1969 and 1987 significant at the 5% level.

^bSmall numbers of deaths for whom inadequate information was available are included in the total but have been excluded from this and other tables in this book when calculating percentages.

SOURCE: Seale and Cartwright, 1994. Used with permission.

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