Age at death: a three hospital urban, suburban, and small town study.

Comparison of the ages of patients dying at three interrelated St. Louis hospitals in 1988 has been used to study the results of similar high-quality acute hospital care when provided to dissimilar populations. The data presented by the authors leads them to conclude that in this era of mounting health costs, we have not, at least as recently as 1988, realized that an ounce of prevention if worth a pound of cure.