Present and projected consumption of hospital bed-days as a function of terminal days before death.

In 1983 the bed-day consumption per year per 1,000 inhabitants was 1,571 for all subjects in the Copenhagen County, and 774, 1,239, and 4,918 for subjects 0-19 years, 20-64 years, and above 65 years of age, respectively. Extrapolating from these data the hospital bed-day consumption per inhabitant is predicted to increase by 20.6% in Denmark by the year 2025 as compared to 1986. The mean hospital bed-day consumption per subject during the last 150 days prior to death in hospital was 25.0 days for males and 29.7 for females. Making the conservative assumption that only subjects who die in hospital consume hospital bed-days during the last 150 days before death, the bed-day consumption during 1983 of 0-64 years old subjects being in the terminal 150-day phase was 5.87% of the total annual bed-day consumption of this age group. For subjects 65 years of age or older, it was 18.1%.