• Wei Ting Foo, Yiliang Zheng, Ann K Kwee, Grace M Yang, and Lalit Krishna.
• Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
• Am J Hosp Palliat Care. 2013 Jun 1; 30 (4): 354-8.

AimTo explore the importance of factors influencing the end-of-life care decision making of health care professionals (HCPs) in Singapore.MethodsThis cross-sectional survey encompassed facets of patient, family, and HCP-related care considerations. In total, 187 questionnaires were distributed to physicians and nurses and had a response rate of 78.6%.ResultsThe respondents rated patients' wishes (96.6%), their clinical symptoms (93.9%), and patients' beliefs (91.1%) very high. In all, 94.6% of the HCPs would respect a competent patient's wishes over the family's wishes when goals conflict. However, 59.9% of HCPs would abide by the family's wishes when the patient loses capacity even if the patient's previously expressed wishes are known.ConclusionEnd-of-life care decision making by HCPs appears largely patient centered, although familial determination still wields significant influence with implications for advance care planning.

40 keywords...

hide…