'Death test' could predict chance of dying within 30 days
Health experts say a new test will prevent futile and expensive medical treatments which prolong suffering
By Sarah Knapton, Science Editor
12:00AM GMT 23 Jan 2015

A test to determine if elderly patients will die within 30 days of being admitted to hospital has been developed by doctors to give them the chance to go home or say goodbye to loved ones.

Health experts say the checklist will prevent futile and expensive medical treatments which merely prolong suffering.

The screening test looks at 29 indicators of health, including age, frailty, illness, mental impairment, previous emergency admissions and heart rate and produces a percentage chance of death within one month and 12 weeks.

Researchers say the aim of Critera for Screening and Triaging to Appropriate aLternative care, or CriSTAL for short, is to kick-start frank discussions about end of life care, and minimise the risk of invasive ineffective treatment.

“Delaying unavoidable death contributes to unsustainable and escalating healthcare costs, despite aggressive and expensive interventions,” said lead author Dr Magnolia Cardona-Morrel, a researcher at the University of New South Wales.

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The checklist is yet to be tested but the researchers hope it will eventually be used for all hospital admissions.

The research was published in the BMJ Open publication Supportive & Palliative Care.

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