Table 4.

Studies on ADs with patients’ relatives and representatives

Field	Year	Author and type of study	Results
Intensive care	2003	Solsona, José F Observational	80 participants. 32.5% knew the patient’s wishes, 65% of which would make the decision to limit treatment if the patient were to become seriously ill. Most were unaware of the patient’s wishes regarding organ donation, and no legal representatives had been assigned. 12.5% had been assigned but only verbally
	2010	Arauzo, Vanessa Observational	210 participants. 5% had prepared ADs, and 21% had considered preparing them. 85% expressed an interest in receiving information, and 51% believed that having a relative or a friend admitted to the ICU had caused them to reflect on this topic
Emergencies	2010	Antolín, Albert Observational	190 participants: 76% of the companions were women, generally younger than the patient, with a better knowledge of the disease (88% vs. 74%) and more ADs (28% vs. 16%) than the patients themselves
Representatives (register)	2016	Busquets, Josep M Observational	146 participants. 67.1% stated that the ADs were consulted and 58.9% that representatives were consulted, while 82.1% believed that patient’s will was respected. 69.9% believed that patients who had previously planned their care using ADs had had a good death, 22.4% stated that it could have been better, and 6.8% believed they suffered a great deal
Dialysis	2017	Rodríguez Ángel, Intervetion	76 participants. 94.7% expressed an extremely high degree of satisfaction with ADs, noting their usefulness in making decisions to limit life support treatment in situations for which the patient had previously stated his or her wishes