Table 3.
Coded communication behaviors
| Communication Domain | Domain Rate (n=98) |
Communication Behavior | Behavior Rate (n=98) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Providing Medical Information | 94 (96%) | Explain patient's medical condition | 93 (95%) |
| Explicitly discusses treatment options | 36 (37%) | ||
| Implicitly discusses treatment options | 27 (28%) | ||
| Discusses likely prognosis with intubation | 26 (27%) | ||
| Discusses likely prognosis without intubation | 37 (38%) | ||
| Discusses longer term prognosis | 42 (43%) | ||
| Discusses longer term prognosis for physical or cognitive function or quality of life | 0 (0%) | ||
| Discusses longer term prognosis for survival | 0 (0%) | ||
| Makes any other prognostic statement | 68 (69%) | ||
| Eliciting Treatment Preferences | 86 (88%) | Inquires about values or general treatment goals | 35 (36%) |
| Inquires about specific treatment preferences | 80 (82%) | ||
| Asks permission to start a specific treatment | 20 (20%) | ||
| Confirms treatment preferences or values | 78 (80%) | ||
| Deliberative Behaviors | 53 (54%) | Makes bridging statement linking values with specific recommended treatment | 40 (41%) |
| Highlights a key consideration in the decision making process | 1 (1%) | ||
| Instructs surrogate that a decision should be based on patient values | 10 (10%) | ||
| Highlights the preference sensitive nature of the decision | 13 (13%) | ||
| Give Treatment Recommendations | 36 (37%) | Makes a recommendation about the best treatment | 52 (53%) |
| Makes a recommendation for treatment incongruent to patient values | 4 (4%) | ||
| Responding to Surrogate Recommendation request | 38 (39%) | Provides definitive recommendation | 32 (33%) |
| Elicits information about patient values or treatment preferences | 0 (0%) | ||
| Provides hypothetical recommendation | 5 (5%) | ||
| Reframes request as a question to surrogate/patient | 16 (16%) | ||
| Refuses to provide recommendation | 9 (9%) | ||
| Restates medical information, prognosis or treatment choices | 20 (20%) | ||
| Makes a treatment plan independent of family/surrogate | 12 (12%) | Makes a treatment plan independently of family/surrogate preferences (either by failing to elicit preferences or by ignoring them) | 12 (12%) |