• Jun Miyashita, Ayako Kohno, Sayaka Shimizu, Motohiro Kashiwazaki, Noriki Kamihiro, Kaoru Okawa, Masami Fujisaki, Shunichi Fukuhara, and Yosuke Yamamoto.
• Department of General Medicine, Shirakawa Satellite for Teaching And Research (STAR), Fukushima Medical University, 2-1 Toyochikamiyajiro, Shirakawa, Fukushima, 961-0005, Japan. jun-miya@umin.ac.jp.
• J Gen Intern Med. 2021 Oct 1; 36 (10): 2935-2942.

BackgroundMost adult patients are willing to discuss advance care planning before the onset of any illness. There might be differences in preferences for timing when it comes to initiating advance care planning discussions by healthcare providers with patients.ObjectiveTo identify healthcare providers' willingness to initiate advance care planning discussions in Japan.DesignA mixed-methods questionnaire comprising three case scenarios based on three different illness trajectories.ParticipantsThe study participants were physicians and nurses employed in four community hospitals in Japan.Main MeasuresPercentages of physicians' and nurses' willingness to initiate advance care planning discussions at four stages of patients' illness trajectory were quantitatively determined, and perceptions on preferred timing were qualitatively identified.Key ResultsFrom 108 physician and 123 nurse respondents (response rate: 99%), 291 physician and 362 nurse responses about three case scenarios were obtained. Overall, 51.2% of physicians and 65.5% of nurses (p < 0.001) accepted discussion before illness. Less than one-third of physicians considered advance care planning a "wise precaution," while about two-thirds of nurses did. Additionally, more than half of both physicians and nurses preferred to postpone advance care planning until the patient's imminent death.ConclusionsPhysicians are less willing than nurses to begin advance care planning discussions before patients' health has deteriorated though most prefer to wait until the patients are close to death. Healthcare providers' attitudes toward advance care planning will need to be addressed to improve rates of completion in Japan.© 2021. Society of General Internal Medicine.

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