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Resuscitating the elderly: what do the patients want?

Resuscitating the elderly: what do the patients want?
Resuscitating the elderly: what do the patients want?
Objectives: to study the resuscitation preferences, choice of decision-maker, views on the seeking of patients' wishes and determinants of these of elderly hospital in-patients.

Design: questionnaire administered on admission and prior to discharge.

Setting: two acute geriatric medicine units (Southampton and Poole).

Participants: two hundred and fourteen consecutive consenting mentally competent patients admitted to hospital as emergencies.

Results: resuscitation was wanted by 60%, particularly married and functionally independent patients and those who had not already considered it. Not wanted resuscitation was associated with lack of social contacts. Sixty-seven per cent welcomed enquiry about their preferences and 78% wanted participation in decision, 43% as sole decision-maker. Wishing to choose oneself was associated with not wanting resuscitation, prior knowledge of it, and lack of a spouse. Patients' opinions remained stable during their admission.

Conclusions: discussion of resuscitation is practical on hospital admission without causing distress and the views expressed endure through the period of hospitalisation. Elderly patients' attitudes depend partly on personal health and social circumstances. This may assist doctors when patients are unable to participate themselves
1473-4257
154-159
Bruce-Jones, P.
88951cc5-379b-4954-8aaa-10ed7fcc1e13
Roberts, Helen C.
5ea688b1-ef7a-4173-9da0-26290e18f253
Bowker, L.
ecc4d218-d4a4-4d55-8d44-e3e59e25c430
Cooney, V.
67e434d5-2e7c-4232-ba61-92902f28ba2c
Bruce-Jones, P.
88951cc5-379b-4954-8aaa-10ed7fcc1e13
Roberts, Helen C.
5ea688b1-ef7a-4173-9da0-26290e18f253
Bowker, L.
ecc4d218-d4a4-4d55-8d44-e3e59e25c430
Cooney, V.
67e434d5-2e7c-4232-ba61-92902f28ba2c

Bruce-Jones, P., Roberts, Helen C., Bowker, L. and Cooney, V. (1996) Resuscitating the elderly: what do the patients want? Journal of Medical Ethics, 22 (3), 154-159. (PMID:8798937)

Record type: Article

Abstract

Objectives: to study the resuscitation preferences, choice of decision-maker, views on the seeking of patients' wishes and determinants of these of elderly hospital in-patients.

Design: questionnaire administered on admission and prior to discharge.

Setting: two acute geriatric medicine units (Southampton and Poole).

Participants: two hundred and fourteen consecutive consenting mentally competent patients admitted to hospital as emergencies.

Results: resuscitation was wanted by 60%, particularly married and functionally independent patients and those who had not already considered it. Not wanted resuscitation was associated with lack of social contacts. Sixty-seven per cent welcomed enquiry about their preferences and 78% wanted participation in decision, 43% as sole decision-maker. Wishing to choose oneself was associated with not wanting resuscitation, prior knowledge of it, and lack of a spouse. Patients' opinions remained stable during their admission.

Conclusions: discussion of resuscitation is practical on hospital admission without causing distress and the views expressed endure through the period of hospitalisation. Elderly patients' attitudes depend partly on personal health and social circumstances. This may assist doctors when patients are unable to participate themselves

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More information

Published date: 1996
Organisations: Faculty of Health Sciences

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 341818
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/341818
ISSN: 1473-4257
PURE UUID: 8fccae8d-b9c0-4100-bfe5-4e0ab59a2f36
ORCID for Helen C. Roberts: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-5291-1880

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 23 Aug 2012 07:54
Last modified: 09 Jan 2022 03:11

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Contributors

Author: P. Bruce-Jones
Author: L. Bowker
Author: V. Cooney

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