Discordance in such perceived preferences may therefore pose challenges for advance care planning. This study examines discordance in preference for life-extending care versus comfort-focused care and its association with do-not-resuscitate (DNR) order placement.Patients make treatment decisions based not only on what they want, but what they think their families want.
One hundred eighty-nine patients with advanced cancers refractory to at least one chemotherapy regimen were enrolled in a multisite observational study. Approximately 23% of patients (n = 43) perceived discordance between their preference and their families’ preference. Patients who perceived discordance were less likely to have completed a DNR compared with those who perceived concordance, even after controlling for relevant confounds (odds ratio = .35; P = .02). Subgroups of discordance and concordance showed varying DNR placement rates (χ2, 19.95; P < .001). DNR placement rate was lowest among discordant subgroups, where there was either a personal (26.7%; four of 15) or family preference for comfort care (28.6%; eight of 28), followed by patients who perceived concordance for wanting life-extending care (34.5%; 29 of 84) and by patients who perceived concordance in wanting comfort-focused care (66.1%; 41 of 62).
Many patients may perceive discordance between personal and family treatment preferences, posing impediments to advance care planning. Such patients may benefit from additional decision support.
Reference Link- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7010415/
