Table 1.
Demographics of Patients with Living Wills, Health Care Proxies or with no Living Will or Health Care Proxy
| Living will n = 176 | Health care proxy n = 534 | No living will or health care proxy n = 411 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age on ICU admissiona | |||
| Age y (mean ± SD) | 64.5 (±11.7) | 61.0 (±14.9) | 61.0 (±15.5) |
| Gender | |||
| Male | 115 (65.3%) | 323 (60.5%) | 234 (56.9%) |
| Racea | |||
| White | 162 (92.0%) | 412 (77.2%) | 306 (74.5%) |
| Minorities/others | 14 (8.0%) | 119 (22.8%) | 105 (25.5%) |
| Insurancea | |||
| Commercial | 82 (46.6%) | 214 (40.1%) | 183 (44.5%) |
| Medicare | 92 (52.3%) | 270 (50.6%) | 188 (45.7%) |
| Medicaid/none | 2 (1.1%) | 50 (9.3%) | 40 (9.8%) |
| Marriage status | |||
| Divorced | 16 (9.1%) | 35 (6.6%) | 21 (5.1%) |
| Married | 122 (69.3%) | 353 (66.1%) | 279 (67.9%) |
| Single | 23 (13.1%) | 94 (17.6%) | 78 (19.0%) |
| Widowed | 15 (8.5%) | 52 (9.7%) | 33 (8.0%) |
| Religion | |||
| Roman Catholic | 76 (43.2%) | 240 (44.9%) | 154 (37.5%) |
| Christian | 29 (16.5%) | 99 (18.9%) | 80 (19.5%) |
| Jewish | 30 (17.1%) | 95 (17.8%) | 78 (18.9%) |
| Other/Unknown | 41 (23.2%) | 100 (18.7%) | 99 (24.1%) |
| Admitting servicea | |||
| Medicine | 83 (47.2%) | 301 (56.4%) | 256 (62.3%) |
| Surgery | 93 (52.8%) | 233 (43.6%) | 155 (37.7%) |
| MPM II score on ICU admission | |||
| MPM II % (mean ± SD) | 46 (±26) | 48 (±26) | 48 (±28) |
a
p values <0.05 in univariate analysis. See Table 2 for multivariate model. Race: Minorities/others include Asian/Indian, Black, Hispanic and other. Christian includes Baptist, Christian, Christian Orthodox, Episcopalian, Greek Orthodox, Jehovah's Witness, Lutheran, Methodist, Mormon, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, Protestant, Russian Orthodox, Seventh Day Adventist, Unitarian, and Quaker). Other/unknown includes Buddhist, Hindu, Moslem, other, and unknown.
ICU, intensive care unit, MPM II, Mortality Probability Model version II.