• J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2020

    Knowledge, opinion and attitude about the Italian law on advance directives: a population-based survey.

    • Ludovica De Panfilis, RossiPaolo GiorgiPGEpidemiology Unit, Azienda USL-IRCCS di Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia, Italy., Elisa Mazzini, Luca Pistolesi, Luca Ghirotto, Antonio Noto, Sandra Cuocolo, and Massimo Costantini.
    • Unit of Bioethics, Azienda USL-IRCCS di Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia, Italy. Electronic address: ludovica.depanfilis@ausl.re.it.
    • J Pain Symptom Manage. 2020 Nov 1; 60 (5): 906-914.e4.

    ContextAdvance directives are legal documents which individuals draw up to declare their treatment preferences and to appoint well-informed proxies to safeguard patient autonomy in critical situations when that individual is temporarily or no longer able to communicate these preferences. On December 22, 2017, the Italian Parliament approved the first law on end of life ("Provisions for informed consent and advance directives" L.219/2017), after a heated public and political debate lasting almost 20 years.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to investigate the awareness, knowledge, opinions, and attitudes regarding Italian Law 219/2017 and advance directives among the Italian population 15 months after its entry into force.MethodsA nationwide population-based survey was conducted by a certified public opinion survey company. A sample size of 2000 interviews was planned. A structured questionnaire was developed to investigate awareness, opinions, and attitudes concerning the law by a multiprofessional research team. The agreed-on version was pretested on a sample of 70 selected participants.ResultsThe sample included 2000 valid interviews; 70.1% of respondents declared they had heard about the law on informed consent and advance directives. Respondents were asked to express their overall opinion on the law's utility and importance: 88% declared that the law was quite or very important and 76% had a positive attitude toward making/registering advance directives.ConclusionThe principles of Italian Law 219/2017 are aligned with the ethical sentiment of the vast majority of the Italian population. It is crucial to stimulate discussion to increase knowledge and awareness to increase the number of advance directives.Copyright © 2020 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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