A study of elderly migration flows during the last 12 months of life based on their use of services under Japanese long- term care insurance.

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The purpose of study was to clarify the end-stage elderly migration flows under the long-term care insurance (LTCI) system in rural Japan. Data included all claims and survival data from 2000 to 2005 in one municipal body in rural Japan. Data were analyzed for about 693 persons over the age of 65. Five hundred seventeen persons (74.6%) used the LTCI service in their month of death. In addition, 203 persons (39.3%) used only the visiting service. Among them, about 13% showed possible migration flows. A higher age of death and a female gender were significantly associated with such migration flows. We therefore found that the patient' physical condition and/or care environment affected the likelihood of demonstrating migration flows.