Flow chart of inclusion of deaths and response of physicians.

<p>* These cases were deleted from the sample because it was not possible to survey the case. The physician could not identify the decedent with the provided information, no longer had access to the medical file, was not treating physician and did not know who that was, or never received the questionnaire). †For this study we selected a population comprising deaths from underlying causes that, as identified through mixed-methods research based on Rosenwax et al [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0137251#pone.0137251.ref013" target="_blank">13</a>] can be considered as indicative of a need for a palliative care approach. The following underlying causes of death were selected: cancer, organ failure, dementia and other illnesses, ie Parkinson’s disease, motor neurone disease, HIV/aids and non-cancerous neoplasm.