Variations in vital signs at the end of life in non-cancer patients: a retrospective study.

Background: The prediction of impending death is important for providing appropriate end-of-life care; however, limited information is currently available on the signs of impending death in non-cancer patients. Furthermore, although vital signs are routinely measured in clinical practice, changes in vital signs in the dying phase in non-cancer patients have not yet been elucidated in detail.

Methods: We herein conducted a retrospective study to clarify changes in vital signs before death in noncancer patients. Non-cancer patients who died in a hospital in Japan between April 2017 and April 2018 were examined. Vital signs for up to seven days before death were analyzed, with the average value of each vital sign approximately every twelve hours being plotted. We divided data into two periods: from days -7 to -4 and from day -3 to death. We used a linear mixed model in the two periods, and t-tests were performed to assess whether the gradient of the line across the time variable significantly differed from zero.

Results: Data from 47 non-cancer patients were analyzed. Systolic blood pressure (P<0.001), diastolic blood pressure (P<0.001), and oxygen saturation (P=0.001) significantly decreased from day -3 to death, whereas no significant changes were noted in any vital sign in days -7 to -4.

Conclusions: Based on the present results, changes in blood pressure and oxygen saturation may be useful indicators of prognosis within three days of death. Further research on clinical signs and their diagnostic characteristics for impending death in non-cancer patients is needed.