Emergency clinicians' attitudes and decisions in patient scenarios involving advance directives

Abstract

Introduction: To identify the decisions and attitudes of emergency clinicians in hypothetical scenarios involving advance directives (ADs). Methods: An online survey distributed to members of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine elicited decisions on commencing full treatment (CFT), limiting treatment or palliation in hypothetical clinical scenarios. Quantitative data were summarised using number and percentage. Results: 388 surveys yielded a 13.0% response rate, including 190 fellows (51.9%) and 176 trainees (48.1%). For a 75-year-old patient with major trauma and unknown comorbidities requiring laparotomy, most participants (355/365, 97.3%) chose CFT. When an AD limiting treatme..