Completion Rates of Advance Directives in a Trauma Emergency Room: Association with Age
Introduction An advance directive (AD) is a written legal document in which a person can express wishes and preferences for medical treatment for the moment when that person is no longer able to make medical decisions because of a serious illness or injury. While ADs have emerged in public, it is un...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2021-01-01
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| Series: | Emergency Medicine International |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2021/5537599 |
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| author | Jan A. Graw René Burchard |
| author_facet | Jan A. Graw René Burchard |
| author_sort | Jan A. Graw |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction An advance directive (AD) is a written legal document in which a person can express wishes and preferences for medical treatment for the moment when that person is no longer able to make medical decisions because of a serious illness or injury. While ADs have emerged in public, it is unclear, how many adults in Germany have completed an AD, and frequencies differ among different patient cohorts and medical settings. The aim of this study was to evaluate how many patients visiting a trauma emergency room (ER) in an academic teaching hospital had completed an AD. Furthermore, patient characteristics were compared between patients who had completed an AD and those who had not completed an AD. Methods. Patients with a traumatic injury or disease who attended the ER of an academic teaching hospital in the period from October 2015 to March 2016 (n = 499) were surveyed for completion rates of ADs. Results. Prior to their visit to the ER, 12.8% of the included patients possessed a completed AD. Patients with a completed AD had a higher age (median age: 54 (IQR: 34–66) vs. 35 (IQR: 25–50) p<0.001) and were less often living in an urban residential location (UR) (UR: 23.5% vs. 39.4%, p=0.029). Groups did not differ between sex (p=0.115), frequencies of high school graduates (p=0.482), and possession of a private health insurance (p=0.072), disability insurance (p=0.291), or an accident insurance (p=0.790). Conclusion. Completion rates of ADs remain low among patients visiting an ER of an academic teaching hospital in Germany. Increasing age but not factors such as sex, educational background, or insurance status were associated with a higher frequency of completed ADs. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4a146efb6f71490899d523d243f4b24e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2090-2840 2090-2859 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Emergency Medicine International |
| spelling | doaj-art-4a146efb6f71490899d523d243f4b24e2025-02-03T01:25:27ZengWileyEmergency Medicine International2090-28402090-28592021-01-01202110.1155/2021/55375995537599Completion Rates of Advance Directives in a Trauma Emergency Room: Association with AgeJan A. Graw0René Burchard1Department of Anesthesiology and Operative Intensive Care Medicine CCM/CVK, Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, GermanyDepartment of Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery, Lahn-Dill-Kliniken, Dillenburg, GermanyIntroduction An advance directive (AD) is a written legal document in which a person can express wishes and preferences for medical treatment for the moment when that person is no longer able to make medical decisions because of a serious illness or injury. While ADs have emerged in public, it is unclear, how many adults in Germany have completed an AD, and frequencies differ among different patient cohorts and medical settings. The aim of this study was to evaluate how many patients visiting a trauma emergency room (ER) in an academic teaching hospital had completed an AD. Furthermore, patient characteristics were compared between patients who had completed an AD and those who had not completed an AD. Methods. Patients with a traumatic injury or disease who attended the ER of an academic teaching hospital in the period from October 2015 to March 2016 (n = 499) were surveyed for completion rates of ADs. Results. Prior to their visit to the ER, 12.8% of the included patients possessed a completed AD. Patients with a completed AD had a higher age (median age: 54 (IQR: 34–66) vs. 35 (IQR: 25–50) p<0.001) and were less often living in an urban residential location (UR) (UR: 23.5% vs. 39.4%, p=0.029). Groups did not differ between sex (p=0.115), frequencies of high school graduates (p=0.482), and possession of a private health insurance (p=0.072), disability insurance (p=0.291), or an accident insurance (p=0.790). Conclusion. Completion rates of ADs remain low among patients visiting an ER of an academic teaching hospital in Germany. Increasing age but not factors such as sex, educational background, or insurance status were associated with a higher frequency of completed ADs.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2021/5537599 |
| spellingShingle | Jan A. Graw René Burchard Completion Rates of Advance Directives in a Trauma Emergency Room: Association with Age Emergency Medicine International |
| title | Completion Rates of Advance Directives in a Trauma Emergency Room: Association with Age |
| title_full | Completion Rates of Advance Directives in a Trauma Emergency Room: Association with Age |
| title_fullStr | Completion Rates of Advance Directives in a Trauma Emergency Room: Association with Age |
| title_full_unstemmed | Completion Rates of Advance Directives in a Trauma Emergency Room: Association with Age |
| title_short | Completion Rates of Advance Directives in a Trauma Emergency Room: Association with Age |
| title_sort | completion rates of advance directives in a trauma emergency room association with age |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2021/5537599 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT janagraw completionratesofadvancedirectivesinatraumaemergencyroomassociationwithage AT reneburchard completionratesofadvancedirectivesinatraumaemergencyroomassociationwithage |