Table 2.

Patients’ Overall Assessment of Physicians’ Decisions

Responses to query: “How well do you think the doctor translated your wishes into actual clinical decisions?”

	Vignette						Mean
	A	B	C	D	E	F	(A–F)
Average score	9.6	9.2	8.1	7.4	7.4	8.9	8.4
Standard deviation	0.9	1.5	2.8	3.2	3.3	2.6	1.1
Range of scores	7–9	5–10	4–10	2–10	1–10	1–10	6.5–10

Key: 1 = Extremely poorly, 10 = Extremely well

Vignettes:

1. Hemorrhagic stroke that will recover, leaving mild physical deficits
2. Traumatic brain hemorrhage with underlying poorly controlled chronic pain
3. Severed C-spine, resulting in lifetime paralysis and mechanical ventilation
4. Coma after head injury, anticipated to wake up, but with long-term mental deficits
5. Renal failure and sepsis with underlying metastatic colon cancer
6. Pneumonia, anorexia, and aggression with underlying Alzheimer’s dementia