Older Adults without Desired Surrogates in a Nationally Representative Sample.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Little is known about older adults who have intact capacity but do not have a desired surrogate to make decisions if their capacity becomes impaired. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study of a nationally representative sample. SETTING: National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP), 2005-2006. PARTICIPANTS: Community-dwelling older adults without known cognitive impairment, aged 57 to 85, interviewed as part of NSHAP (n = 2,767). MEASUREMENTS: We examined demographic, medical, and social connectedness characteristics associated with answering "no" to this question: "Do you have someone who you would like to make medical decisions for you if you were unable, as for example if you were seriously injured or very sick?" Because many states permit nuclear family to make decisions for persons with no legally appointed health care agent, we used logistic regression to identify factors associated with individuals who were ill suited to this paradigm in the sense that they had nuclear family but did not have a desired surrogate. RESULTS: Among NSHAP respondents, 7.5% (95% confidence interval = 6.4-8.7) did not have a desired surrogate. Nearly 90% of respondents without desired surrogates had nuclear family. Compared with respondents with desired surrogates, those without desired surrogates had lower indicators of social connectedness. On average, however, they had four confidants, approximately 70% socialized at least monthly, and more than 90% could discuss their health with a confidant. Among respondents who had nuclear family, few characteristics distinguished those with and without desired surrogates. CONCLUSION: Nearly 8% of older adults did not have a desired surrogate. Most had nuclear family and were not socially disconnected. Older adults should be asked explicitly about a desired surrogate, and strategies are needed to identify surrogates for those who do not have family or would not choose family to make decisions for them.

Guardianship and End-of-Life Care for Veterans with Dementia in Nursing Homes.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Experts have suggested that patients represented by professional guardians receive higher intensity end-of-life treatment than other patients, but there is little corresponding empirical data. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Among veterans aged 65 and older who died from 2011 to 2013, we used Minimum Data Set assessments to identify those who were nursing home residents and had moderately severe or severe dementia. We applied methods developed in prior work to determine which of these veterans had professional guardians. Decedent veterans with professional guardians were matched to decedent veterans without guardians in a 1:4 ratio, according to age, sex, race, dementia severity, and nursing facility type (VA based vs non-VA). MEASUREMENTS: Our primary outcome was intensive care unit (ICU) admission in the last 30 days of life. Secondary outcomes included mechanical ventilation and cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the last 30 days of life, feeding tube placement in the last 90 days of life, three or more nursing home-to-hospital transfers in the last 90 days of life, and in-hospital death. RESULTS: ICU admission was more common among patients with professional guardians than matched controls (17.5% vs 13.7%), but the difference was not statistically significant (adjusted odds ratio = 1.33; 95% confidence interval = .89-1.99). There were no significant differences in receipt of any other treatment; nor was there a consistent pattern. Mechanical ventilation and cardiopulmonary resuscitation were more common among patients with professional guardians, and feeding tube placement, three or more end-of-life hospitalizations, and in-hospital death were more common among matched controls. CONCLUSION: Rates of high-intensity treatment were similar whether or not a nursing home resident with dementia was represented by a professional guardian. This is in part because high-intensity treatment occurred more frequently than expected among patients without guardians.