Income inequalities make dying also different by nature. Surprising, but true. Researchers from University of Michigan had found a link exits between the near death conditions and the financial health of the family.
Geriatric population over the age of 70 yrs may be 30% less likely than their poorer counterparts in terms of feeling pain in the year before their deaths. They also may experience lower number of symptoms related to pain before death, but may suffer from shortness of breath and depression.On an average, rich or poor, the older population of the study had suffered much more in the year before their deaths, than they have suffered as young adults. For the older aged population some of the symptoms that had dogged them in the last year of their lives are fatigue, and feeling pain at different levels.
Trying to find out the reasons for their research results, researchers feel that elders who are in a higher income bracket may be more assertive in expressing their discomforts and ill health and may demand better and more satisfying experience from their ailments than the elderly population who have financial constraints.
Reference: Journal of Palliative Care, July 2005
