Table 2.
Comparing Patient (Letter Advance Directive-1) and Proxy (Letter Advance Directive-2) Initial Alignment Related to Specific End-of-Life Wishes
| End-of-life preferences | Percentage of patients who agreed with this statement | Percentage of caregivers who agreed with this statement | Percentage of concordance between patient and caregiver (i.e., both agreed or both disagreed with the statement) | Percentage of concordance between consensus letter and patient's original preferences |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What I DO NOT want at the end of my life | ||||
| I do not want any attempts to restart my heart (to be resuscitated) if it stops beating | 20.00 | 23.75 | 78.75 | 95.00 |
| I do not want to be on a breathing machine | 46.25 | 58.75 | 57.50 | 90.00 |
| I do not want artificial liquid feeding | 45.00 | 35.00 | 67.50 | 92.50 |
| I do not want dialysis | 30.00 | 23.75 | 73.75 | 92.50 |
| I do not want to spend my last days in a hospital | 66.25 | 62.50 | 63.75 | 91.25 |
| I do not want to die at home | 11.25 | 5.00 | 86.25 | 96.25 |
| What I DO want at the end of my life | ||||
| I want to be pain free | 88.75 | 91.25 | 87.50 | 96.25 |
| I want to spend my last days in the hospital | 6.25 | 3.75 | 90.00 | 100.00 |
| I want you to help me die gently and naturally | 75.00 | 77.50 | 65.00 | 92.50 |
| I want to die at home | 63.75 | 61.25 | 62.50 | 95.00 |
| I want hospice care | 50.00 | 60.00 | 65.00 | 90.00 |
| If my pain and distress are difficult to control, please sedate me even if this means that I may die sooner | 80.00 | 85.00 | 77.50 | 93.75 |
Column 5 shows how the patient–proxy discussion of the patient's end-of-life wishes impacted the consensus (letter advance directive-3) in favor of the patients' wishes.