Advance directives and life-sustaining treatment: attitudes of Hong Kong Chinese elders with chronic disease.
Hong Kong Med J
; 17(2): 105-11, 2011 Apr.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-21471589
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
To examine the attitudes of Hong Kong Chinese elders with chronic disease with regard to advance directives and life-sustaining treatment.DESIGN:
Cross-sectional questionnaire survey.SETTING:
Medical unit of a regional teaching hospital in Hong Kong.PARTICIPANTS:
In-patients aged 60 years or above with chronic disease. MAIN OUTCOMEMEASURES:
Demographic profiles and attitudes towards advance directives and life-sustaining treatment.RESULTS:
A total of 219 elderly patients completed the questionnaire. Their mean age was 73 (standard deviation, 8) years; 133 (61%) were female. The majority had neither heard about advance directives (81%), nor discussed the issue with others (73%) before participating in this study. After they were informed of the concept of advance directives, about half (49%) said they would consider using it if it is legislated in Hong Kong. The respondents generally supported the withholding or withdrawing of life-sustaining treatment in medically futile situations. In all, 55% of them believed that the patient alone should make the decision on withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining treatment, if competent to do so. If the patient became not competent, 44% believed that the individual's family alone should make such a decision.CONCLUSION:
The fact that most of the respondents had never heard about advance directives or discussed the concept with others points to a lack of knowledge and to the necessity to step up public education about such issues.
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Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Actitud
/
Enfermedad Crónica
/
Directivas Anticipadas
/
Cuidados para Prolongación de la Vida
Tipo de estudio:
Guideline
/
Observational_studies
/
Prevalence_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Aspecto:
Ethics
Límite:
Aged
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Aged80
/
Female
/
Humans
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Male
/
Middle aged
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Hong Kong Med J
Asunto de la revista:
MEDICINA
Año:
2011
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Hong Kong