Scientists Create A Calculator That Predicts When The Elderly Will Die

Elderly

 

A team of scientists has developed an online calculator that can help predict when the elderly will die.

The machine is based on data from nearly half a million people, which scientists say will help figure out the changing needs of older people and help their families plan how to care for them at the end of their lives, according to Study Finds.

The website said, in a report published on Sunday, that the scientists' data, according to which the calculator was developed, is based on more than 491,000 elderly people who needed home care between 2013 and 2017.

It also focused on people who are likely to die within the next five years, as the calculator can predict a person's life expectancy up to four weeks, for people who are very frail.

To calculate a person's life expectancy, they are asked whether they have been diagnosed with conditions such as stroke, dementia or high blood pressure and whether their ability to perform tasks has decreased over the past three months.

He is also asked about his ability to make decisions and whether he has experienced vomiting, swelling, shortness of breath, unplanned weight loss, dehydration, or loss of appetite.

The calculator, called Risk Assessment for Support: A Tool for Predicting the Age of Older People in the Community, can predict death within six months.

The researchers found that a decrease in a person's ability to carry out activities of daily living was a strong predictor of death after six months.

“The calculator allows families to plan well before the death of their loved ones, as it can, for example, allow enough time for people to take time off from work to be with a parent or Set an appointment for the last family vacation with him.

While the doctor at Ottawa Hospital, Dr. Peter Tanusiputro, believes that knowing how long a person may live is essential to making good decisions about the treatments that he should receive, when a person approaches death, the situation shifts from obtaining curative care as a primary goal, to Care that increases his quality of life for the rest of his life.”