Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
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To assess the satisfaction of surrogate decision-makers with the decision to place feeding tubes in elderly patients with impaired decision-making capacity. ⋯ Most surrogates we studied would repeat the decision to have a feeding tube after experiencing its effects for 5 weeks. However, almost one-third felt the patient would not want the tube. Physicians and surrogates may need to place greater emphasis on patients' wishes before placing feeding tubes and when reassessing their benefit to the patient after being placed.
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Comparative Study
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation in elderly patients hospitalized in the 1990s: a favorable outcome.
To compare the clinical characteristics and survival of elderly and younger hospitalized patients who sustain cardiac arrest and receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in the 1990's and to assess predictors of survival. ⋯ Elderly patients hospitalized in the 1990's who receive CPR have outcomes similar to younger patients who receive CPR. The favorable outcome in the elderly patients may reflect patient selection: the majority of our patients were functionally active prior to hospitalization, without multiple serious illnesses; many were hospitalized for acute coronary artery syndromes; and, in most cases, the arrest was witnessed with the patient's cardiac rhythm monitored at onset of the arrest.