Table 5.
Baseline Characteristics Associated with having a Comfort Care Goal Shortly after Admission (n=326)
| Adjusted for illness severity onlya | Final modelb | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristic | β (95% CI) | p | β (95% CI) | p |
| Patient with dementia | ||||
| Illness severity (0–10) | — | 0.15 (0.02; 0.28) | 0.021 | |
| Dementia severity (BANS-S; 7–28) | 0.05 (−0.01; 0.10) | 0.097 | — | |
| Any specific religious background | 0.71 (0.20; 1.21) | 0.006 | 0.67 (0.15; 1.19) | 0.012 |
| Competent to make decisions (continuous variable) | −0.56 (−1.77; −0.95) | 0.004 | −0.48 (−0.88; −0.08) | 0.019 |
| Previous expressed wishes about medical treatments | 0.52 (0.00; 1.03) | 0.050 | — | |
| Family | ||||
| Preference care goal: Preserve his/her life as long as possible | −1.16 (−1.95; −0.38) | 0.004 | −1.24 (−2.04; −0.45) | 0.002 |
| Satisfied with family–physician communication | 0.86 (0.34; 1.38) | 0.001 | 0.84 (0.31; 1.38) | 0.002 |
| (Very) much trust in physician | 0.77 (0.17; 1.36) | 0.012 | — | |
| Professionals | ||||
| Physician prediction of patient survival of 1 year or less | 0.78 (0.15; 1.41) | 0.016 | 0.74 (0.10; 1.39) | 0.024 |
| Satisfied with family–physician communication | 1.14 (0.49; 1.80) | 0.001 | — | |
| (Very) much family trust in physician | 1.01 (0.45; 1.56) | <0.001 | — | |
| Professional asked about wishes | 0.57 (0.04; 1.11) | 0.036 | — | |
*
Using multivariable Generalized Estimated Equations (GEE) adjusted for clustering of patients with the 80 physicians who completed the baseline assessments.
†
Using stepwise backward Generalized Estimated Equations (GEE) adjusted for clustering of patients with the 80 physicians who completed the baseline assessments.
CI, confidence interval; BANS-S, Bedford Alzheimer Nursing Severity-Scale.