Table 1.
—Participant Descriptions and Patient Demographic Data
| Participant Variable | Result |
| Patients/surrogates, total, No. | 100 |
| Patients | 20 |
| Surrogates | 80 |
| Surrogates, type, No. | |
| Spouse | 39 |
| Adult child | 18 |
| Parent | 9 |
| Sibling | 8 |
| Legal guardian | 2 |
| Durable power of attorney for health care (no other description) | 2 |
| Nephew | 1 |
| Friend | 1 |
| Physician interviews, total, No. | 99 |
| Faculty | 32 |
| Fellow | 67 |
| Physician participants, total, No. | 15 |
| Faculty | 7 |
| Fellow | 8 |
| Patient age, mean, y | 58.1 |
| Patient gender, No. | |
| Women | 51 |
| Men | 49 |
| Patient race/ethnicity, No. | |
| White | 95 |
| Black | 2 |
| Hispanic | 2 |
| Native American | 1 |
| Patient APACHE II score for hospital mortality, mean | 22.5 |
| Patient length of stay in MICU, mean/median/range, d | 10.3/9/3-38 |
| Day number of MICU hospitalization when interview occurred, mean/median/range, d | 5.3/3/3-28 |
| Patient primary admitting diagnoses, No. | |
| Respiratory | 45 |
| Infectious diseases | 15 |
| Gastroenterologic | 12 |
| Neurologic | 11 |
| Cardiac | 7 |
| Other | 10 |
| Possession of a living will, by patient/surrogate report, No. | 40 |
| Possession of a durable power of attorney for health care, by patient/surrogate report, No. | 47 |
| Patient or surrogate religious service attendance, No. | |
| At least once a week | 32 |
| At least once a month | 13 |
| Once a year or a few times a year | 35 |
| Never | 20 |
| Patients’/surrogates’ religious or spiritual beliefs provide comfort when thinking about death or dying, No. | |
| Yes | 84 |
| No | 15 |
| Unsure | 1 |
APACHE = Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation; MICU = medical ICU.