Deaths and major biographical events: a study of all cancer deaths in Germany from 1995 to 2009

Abstract

ObjectiveTo determine if people dying from cancer are able to prolong their own life in order to experience a certain biographical event, or whether the appearance of such an occasion leads to increased deaths before the event.MethodsWe compared numbers of cancer deaths during a period of 1 week before and after biographically important occasions, which were birthday, Christmas and Easter. As a psychogenic postponement or hastening of death is most likely in chronic diseases (as opposed to accidents or cardiovascular events), we included cancer deaths only. We estimated relative risks (RRs) with their corresponding Bonferroni corrected CIs to assess effects of biographical events. All registered cancer deaths in Germany from 1995 to 2009 were included (3 257 520 individual deaths). Numbers of deaths were corrected for seasonality.ResultsConsidering all cases, there were noticeably more deaths than expected in the week preceding Christmas, leading to an RR of dying after the event of 0.987 (CI 0.978 to 0.997). Estimates indicating a hastening of death were consistent over several subgroups. Other occasions showed inconsistent results, especially there was no convincing postponement effect in our data.ConclusionsWhile there is no evidence of different death numbers before and after Easter and birthdays, the appearance of Christmas seems to increase deaths.

Seasonal variation of cancer mortality in Hungary between 1984 and 2013

“…Similarly, an increase in deaths from non-cancer during winter was reported in sub-tropical Asian cities [9]. However, Medenwald and Kuss [10] observed noticeably more deaths from cancer than expected in the week preceding Christmas.…”

Cancer Doesn’t Know the Day of the Week: Temporal Trends in Day of Death

“…(8) Another examination of cancer deaths in Germany from 1995-2009 supported the existence of the "holiday effect" around Christmas. (9) In this population-level study, we examined all cancer deaths in the US with a focus on the 21st century to provide an updated, comprehensive understanding of cancer death in America. Our results highlight an opportunity to improve end of life care and focus on what matters to patients.…”