Background: The cancer deaths at home and in care facilities are increasing worldly. If we can identify imminent death using a monitoring device and inform it to family members and care staff, it will help them, even in the absence of healthcare professionals at all times. We examined the association between impending death and continual changes in respiratory and heart rates measured by a non-wearable monitor every minute for the nal 2 weeks of dying cancer patients. In this longitudinal study, we enrolled patients in a palliative-care-unit and continuously measured their respiratory/heart rates by a monitor, capturing their other vital signs and clinical status from medical records.Result: A dataset was created with 240 patient-days from every minute data to death (345,600 data) among 24 patients for 3-14 days to death. We analyzed this 240 patient-day data. After con rming the associations between the value of death day (n=24) or other days (2-14 days before death, n=216) and the mean, maximum, minimum, and variance of respiratory and heart rates every 24 hours by univariate analyses, we conducted a repeated measures logistic regression analysis using a generalized estimating equation. Finally, the maximum respiratory rate and mean heart rate were signi cantly associated with death at 24, 48, and 72 hours later, other than the respiratory rate of the last 24 hours.
Conclusion:The maximum respiratory rate and mean heart rate measured every minute by a monitor can warn imminent death during the last days of life among dying patients. Our ndings can help for caregivers to aware imminent death among dying patients at home or in facilities, in collaboration with palliative care professionals.