Table 1.
Comparison of orders for living and deceased residents with the same POLST (Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment) form in place for 60 days or longer.
| POLST SECTION | POLST ORDER |
GROUP | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Living Residents (n = 430) |
Deceased Residents (n = 311) |
All Residents (n = 741) |
||
| Section A Resuscitation* (n = 741) |
Do Not Resuscitate (n = 635) |
78.1% (336/430) |
96.1% (299/311) |
85.7% (635/741) |
| Full Code (n = 106) |
21.9% (94/430) |
3.9% (12/311) |
14.3% (106/741) |
|
| Section B Medical Interventions* (n = 718) |
Comfort Care Only (n = 300) |
33.4% (140/419) |
53.5% (160/299) |
41.8% (300/718) |
| Limited Additional Interventions (n = 335) |
49.6% (208/419) |
42.5% (127/299) |
46.7% (335/718) |
|
| Full Treatment (n = 83) |
16.9% (71/419) |
4.0% (12/299) |
11.6% (83/718) |
|
| Section C Antibiotics ** (n = 709) |
No Antibiotics (n = 28) |
2.7% (11/413) |
5.7% (17/296) |
3.9% (28/709) |
| Limited Antibiotics (n = 227) |
29.5% (122/413) |
35.5% (105/296) |
32.0% (227/709) |
|
| Antibiotics (n = 454) |
67.8% (280/413) |
58.8% (174/296) |
64.0% (454/709) |
|
| Section D Feeding Tube* (n = 678) |
No feeding tube (n = 417) | 57.0% (224/393) |
67.7% (193/285) |
61.5% (417/678) |
| Defined Trial Period (n = 193) |
29.8% (117/393) |
26.7% (76/285) |
28.5% (193/678) |
|
| Long-Term (n = 68) |
13.2% (52/393) |
5.6% (16/285) |
10.0% (68/678) |
|
Group differences in orders for section significant at *P ≤ .001, †P< .05.
**
Group differences in orders for section significant at p < .05