Involvement in decisions about intravenous treatment for nursing home patients: nursing homes versus hospital wards.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Many of the elderly in nursing homes are very ill and have a reduced quality of life. Life expectancy is often hard to predict. Decisions about life-prolonging treatment should be based on a professional assessment of the patient's best interest, assessment of capacity to consent, and on the patient's own wishes. The purpose of this study was to investigate and compare how these types of decisions were made in nursing homes and in hospital wards. METHODS:Using a questionnaire, we studied the decision-making process for 299 nursing home patients who were treated for dehydration using intravenous fluids, or for bacterial infections using intravenous antibiotics. We compared the 215 (72%) patients treated in nursing homes to the 84 (28%) nursing home patients treated in the hospital. RESULTS:The patients' capacity to consent was considered prior to treatment in 197 (92%) of the patients treated in nursing homes and 56 (67%) of the patients treated in hospitals (p?

SUBMITTER: Klomstad K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5941318 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature