The trajectory of dying. Functional status in the last year of life.

The case records of the 97 patients in the largely geriatric clinical practice at the Palo Alto Medical Clinic who died in 1987 were reviewed. Functional states 12 months, six months, and one week before death were determined retrospectively in an attempt to establish the degree of functionality in the period before death, and particularly to assess the impact of age on this functionality. The data of the series suggest that age per se is not closely correlated with dysfunction. Further, use of the hospital for terminal care was largely confined to more functional patients.