Objective: To assess the willingness of Japanese terminally ill cancer patients to continue living at home during the early phase of home care after discharge from a Clinical Cancer Center (CCC) in Japan, and to identify factors relating to their willingness to continue living at home.

Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey of a convenient sample of both Japanese terminally ill cancer patients and their caregivers (PFCs) was conducted (n = 294, effective response rate 25.0%). Questionnaires were mailed and medical records were accessed for 73 pairs of respondents, comprising one terminally ill cancer patient and one PFC.

Results: At about 10 days after discharge, 64 patients (88%) wished to continue living at home. A hierarchical logistic regression analysis was performed on the data. It was found that the fewer the medical treatments undergone (OR = 0.20, 95% CI: 0.05–0.72), the higher the patients' perception that their condition was consistent with care at home (OR = 2.77, 95% CI: 1.08–8.62) and with their functional well-being (OR = 1.45, 95% CI: 1.08–2.17). In addition, the higher the caregivers' satisfaction with life (OR = 2.37, 95% CI: 1.15–5.77), the more willing patients tended to be to continue living at home.

Significant of results: The willingness of Japanese terminally ill cancer patients to continue living at home appears to be affected by caregiver status. This indicates a need for discharging facilities to monitor the state of home assistance and to investigate the nature of assistance required for continuing home care.