JAMA & ARCHIVES
Arch Fam Med
SEARCH
GO TO ADVANCED SEARCH
HOME  PAST ISSUES  TOPIC COLLECTIONS  CME  PHYSICIAN JOBS  CONTACT US  HELP
Institution: CLOCKSS  | My Account | E-mail Alerts | Access Rights | Sign In
  Vol. 4 No. 6, June 1995 TABLE OF CONTENTS
  Archives
  •  Online Features
  Original Contributions
 This Article
 •References
 •Full text PDF
 •Send to a friend
 • Save in My Folder
 •Save to citation manager
 •Permissions
 Citing Articles
 •Citation map
 •Citing articles on HighWire
 •Contact me when this article is cited
 Related Content
 •Similar articles in this journal

Surrogates' Predictions of Seriously Ill Patients' Resuscitation Preferences

Peter M. Layde, MD, MSc; Craig A. Beam, PhD; Steven K. Broste, MS; Alfred F. Connors, Jr, MD; Norman Desbiens, MD; Joanne Lynn, MD, MA; Russell S. Phillips, MD; Douglas Reding, MD; Joan Teno, MD, MS; Humberto Vidaillet, MD; Neil Wenger, MD

Arch Fam Med. 1995;4(6):518-523.


Abstract

Background
Seriously or terminally ill patients are frequently incapacitated and unable to express their preferences regarding cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). In this situation, family members or other surrogate decision makers are often asked whether they believe the patient would want to be resuscitated. We evaluated the concordance of patient CPR preferences and surrogate perceptions of the patient preferences in the Study to Understand Prognoses and Preferences for Outcomes and Risks of Treatments (SUPPORT), a large, multicenter study of seriously ill hospitalized patients.

Methods
We compared patient preferences and surrogate perceptions in 1226 pairings in which both patient and surrogate responded to CPR decision questions. We also examined factors that might influence patient-surrogate concordance.

Results
Twenty-nine percent of patients with paired data did not want to be resuscitated; 26% of surrogates did not believe the patient they represented would want to be resuscitated. Within pairs, the overall exact agreement with respect to CPR decisions was 74%. For patients favoring CPR, only 16% of the surrogates misconstrued the patient's wishes. For patients who did not want to be resuscitated, however, 50% of the surrogates did not reflect the patient's wishes. If patients reported telling surrogates their CPR preference, concordance was significantly improved if the surrogate believed the patient did not want to be resuscitated and was significantly worsened if the surrogate believed the patient wanted CPR. This finding is likely an artifact of patients being more likely to report their preference to surrogates if that preference was not to be resuscitated.

Conclusions
Surrogates' perceptions of patient CPR preferences are often inaccurate, particularly for those patients who do not want to be resuscitated. Methods to improve communication between patients and surrogates on CPR preferences should be developed and evaluated.



Author Affiliations

From the Department of Family and Community Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee (Drs Layde and Beam); Departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics (Drs Layde, Beam, and Desbiens and Mr Broste), General Internal Medicine (Dr Desbiens), Oncology (Dr Reding), and Cardiology (Dr Vidaillet), Marshfield (Wis) Clinic; Division of Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine, Metrohealth Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio (Dr Connors); Center for Evaluative Health Sciences, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, NH (Drs Lynn and Teno); Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Hospital, Boston, Mass (Dr Phillips); and Department of Medicine, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, Calif (Dr Wenger).



THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Patient and Surrogate Disagreement in End-of-Life Decisions: Can Surrogates Accurately Predict Patients' Preferences?
Marks and Arkes
Med Decis Making 2008;28:524-531.
ABSTRACT  

Life Support for Patients without a Surrogate Decision Maker: Who Decides?
White et al.
ANN INTERN MED 2007;147:34-40.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Acute Coronary Care in the Elderly, Part II: ST-Segment-Elevation Myocardial Infarction: A Scientific Statement for Healthcare Professionals From the American Heart Association Council on Clinical Cardiology: In Collaboration With the Society of Geriatric Cardiology
Alexander et al.
Circulation 2007;115:2570-2589.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

The accuracy of surrogate decision makers: a systematic review.
Shalowitz et al.
Arch Intern Med 2006;166:493-497.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Micromanaging Death: Process Preferences, Values, and Goals in End-of-Life Medical Decision Making
Hawkins et al.
Gerontologist 2005;45:107-117.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

End-of-life care: Perspectives of family members of deceased patients
Marco et al.
AM J HOSP PALLIAT CARE 2005;22:26-31.
ABSTRACT  

Relatives' knowledge of decision making in intensive care
Booth et al.
J. Med. Ethics 2004;30:459-461.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Ethical Issues in Geriatrics: A Guide for Clinicians
Mueller et al.
Mayo Clin Proc. 2004;79:554-562.
ABSTRACT  

Determining resuscitation preferences of elderly inpatients: a review of the literature
Frank et al.
CMAJ 2003;169:795-799.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

The Use of Advance Directives in End-of-life Decision Making: Problems and Possibilities
FAGERLIN et al.
American Behavioral Scientist 2002;46:268-283.
ABSTRACT  

Research Design in End-of-Life Research: State of Science
George
Gerontologist 2002;42:86-98.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

"Choice" in End-of-Life Decision Making: Researching Fact or Fiction?
Drought and Koenig
Gerontologist 2002;42:114-128.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Predicting Elderly Outpatients' Life-Sustaining Treatment Preferences over Time: The Majority Rules
Houts et al.
Med Decis Making 2002;22:39-52.
ABSTRACT  

Advance Directives as Acts of Communication: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Ditto et al.
Arch Intern Med 2001;161:421-430.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Accuracy of Primary Care and Hospital-Based Physicians' Predictions of Elderly Outpatients' Treatment Preferences With and Without Advance Directives
Coppola et al.
Arch Intern Med 2001;161:431-440.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Modal Preferences Predict Elderly Patients' Life-sustaining Treatment Choices as Well as Patients' Chosen Surrogates Do
Smucker et al.
Med Decis Making 2000;20:271-280.
ABSTRACT  

Oregon's Physician-Assisted Suicide Legislation: Troubling Issues for Families
Tilden and Lee
Journal of Family Nursing 1997;3:120-129.
ABSTRACT  

CAN SURROGATES PREDICT PATIENTS' WISHES FOR CPR?
JWatch General 1995;1995:7-7.
FULL TEXT  

Surrogate Decision Making: Only One Piece of the Puzzle
Morris
Arch Fam Med 1995;4:503-504.
ABSTRACT  




HOME | CURRENT ISSUE | PAST ISSUES | TOPIC COLLECTIONS | CME | PHYSICIAN JOBS | HELP
CONDITIONS OF USE | PRIVACY POLICY | CONTACT US | SITE MAP
 
© 1995 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.