Describe characteristics, outcomes, and decision making in patients with colorectal cancer metastatic to the liver, and to examine the relationship of doctor-patient communication with patient understanding of prognosis and physician understanding of patients' treatment preferences.
Do not resuscitate (DNR) orders are increasingly common, though there has been little evaluation of their changing use. The authors contrasted the use and outcomes of DNR orders for nationally representative samples of Medicare patients hospitalized with specific diagnoses in 1981 to 1982 and 1985 to 1986.
To evaluate whether the lack of effect of advance directives (ADs) on decision-making in SUPPORT might arise, in part, from the content of the actual documents.
During serious illness, patient preferences regarding life-sustaining treatments play an important role in medical decisions. However, little is known about life-sustaining preference stability in this population or about factors associated with preference change.
For patients hospitalized with serious illnesses, we identified factors associated with a stated preference to forgo cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), examined physician-patient communication about these issues, and determined the relationship of patients' preferences to intensity of care and survival.
The authors evaluated the capability of seriously ill patients to participate in decision making early in hospitalization and their decision making capacity two weeks before hospital entry.
Associate Behavioral and Social Scientist; Professor of Policy Analysis, Pardee RAND Graduate School
Education Ph.D. in sociology, Brandeis University; B.A. in sociology, College of the Holy Cross