Deaths of young people living in residential aged care: a national population-based descriptive epidemiological analysis of cases notified to Australian coroners

Aim: This study provides a descriptive epidemiological analysis stratified by age of deaths reported to Australian Coroners of residential aged care facility residents aged under 65 years. Method: A national population-based retrospective analysis was conducted of deaths of Australian residential aged care facility residents reported to Australian Coroners between 2000 and 2013. Descriptive statistics compared adult residents categorised using age by factors relating to the individual, incident and death investigation. Results: Of the 21,736 deaths of residential aged care facilities residents aged over 20 years reported to Australian Coroners, 782 (3.6%) were of residents aged 20-64 years. Natural cause deaths occurred at similar rates irrespective of age. Intentional external cause deaths were higher in residents aged 20-64 years (5.3% vs. 16.0%; OR 3.43, 95% CI 2.0-5.9; p < 0.001), with suicide rates three times that of the over 65 years group (13.2% vs. 4.1%; OR 0.28, 95% CI 0.16-0.51; p < 0.001). External cause deaths from choking and falls were most common in the younger and older groups respectively. Conclusions: More is required to prevent external cause deaths in young residential care facility residents.

Automated summary

The study provides a descriptive epidemiological analysis of deaths reported to Australian Coroners of residential aged care facility residents under 65 years, indicating that external cause deaths, particularly intentional ones, are higher in the younger age group and more efforts are needed for prevention.