Advance directives and end-of-life decisions in Switzerland: role of patients, relatives and health professionals

BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care
Sophie PautexPetra Vayne-Bossert

Abstract

Little is known in Europe about end-of-life (EOL) decisions and advance directives (AD), particularly in patients with severe advanced disease. Switzerland is a multicultural and multilingual federal country and has the particularity of being divided into four linguistic and cultural regions OBJECTIVE: To understand better in different regions of Switzerland which specific patient's characteristics could have an impact on their decision to complete AD or not. Prospective study conducted in four palliative care units. Patients with an advanced oncological disease, fluent in French, German or Italian and with a Mini-Mental State Examination >20 were included. Demographic data, symptom burden (Edmonton Symptom Assessment System, ESAS; Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, HADS) and spiritual well-being (Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual well-being, FACIT-sp) have been assessed. A structured questionnaire has been completed by patients, their relatives and health professionals. 143 patients were included (mean age 68.3 years; 62 male). 41 completed ADs. No particular features were associated with the completion of ADs. Most patients were satisfied with the medical information received. A third of them were...Continue Reading

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Citations

Feb 11, 2016·Medicine, Health Care, and Philosophy·Ina Carola OtteKlaus Walter Bally
Jun 4, 2018·QJM : Monthly Journal of the Association of Physicians·Victoria SiegristRoland Bingisser
Apr 25, 2019·BMC Geriatrics·Anne Cattagni KleinerLaurence Seematter-Bagnoud
Jun 20, 2019·Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing·Rocío Juliá-SanchisMaria José Cabañero-Martínez
May 7, 2020·Critical Care Medicine·Raoul SutterHans Pargger
Jun 6, 2020·BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care·Clare C O'CallaghanNatasha Michael
Jul 23, 2020·Critical Care Medicine·Raoul SutterHans Pargger
Jan 26, 2021·Journal of Pain and Symptom Management·Ronald C InglehartJudith Schwartzbaum
Aug 27, 2021·Journal of Graduate Medical Education·Thomas FassierNaïke Bochatay

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