Late-Life Depressive Symptoms, Religiousness, and Mood in the Last Week of Life
Table 1
Characteristics of deceased sample members of the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA) between 1995 and 1998.
Range
Mean
(SD)
%
Sex (% female)
270
38.1
Age of death
270
59–91
80.4
(7.5)
Time interval: last respondent interview–death (days)
269
8–1321
589
(330)
Time interval: death proxy interview (days)
270
131–1479
789
(316)
Last respondent interview
Marital state (% married)
263
47.1
Education (years)
263
5–18
8.6
(3.4)
Number of major chronic diseases
270
0–7
1.6
(1.2)
Depressive symptoms (% ≥16) [ at T1, at T2]
267
0–44
10.4
(8.6)
21.7
Religious affiliation
270
Protestant
31.9
Roman Catholic
28.9
Other
1.5
Nonaffiliated(2)
37.8
Church attendance in 1992 (LASA baseline interview)
270
1–5
2.7
(1.8)
Orthodoxy scale
203
0–6
2.9
(2.3)
Salience of religion, last interview with sample member
203
0–8
5.1
(2.1)
Interview with proxy respondent
Cognitive decline according to proxy respondent (1)
238
1–5
3.8
(0.8)
Serious physical symptoms in the last week of life(1)
259
0–5
2.2
(1.3)
Mood in last week of life according to proxy respondent
Depressed mood
233
28.2
Sense of peace—absent
204
23.5
Salience of religion according to proxy respondent
268
0–8
3.5
(3.1)
Expected death/aware of approaching end (both “yes”, %)
270
53.0
(1)High scores indicate more problems.
(2)Among the nonaffiliated: one or both parent(s) affiliated 61% and both parents nonaffiliated 39% (9 had missing value).
