Do surrogates predict patient preferences more accurately after a physician-led discussion about advance directives? A randomized controlled trial.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Caregivers frequently assume the role of surrogate decision-makers but often are unable to accurately predict patients' preferences. This trial aims to find if the use of the Advance Directives documents as a communication tool, improves the agreement between patients and caregivers.

Methods

This trial occurred in a palliative care service of a Portuguese hospital center. A prospective, single-blinded, controlled, randomized trial, enrolling patients and caregivers as a dyad was conducted. Participants individually fulfilled an Advance Directive document, in which patients reported their end-of-life preferences and caregivers reported their decisions as patients' health surrogates. Dyads were randomly assigned to the Intervention or the Control group, in which the

SUBMITTER: Martins CS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9277787 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature