Abstract
[ Purpose] This study aimed to identify factors associated with the discussion experience about end-of-life care.
[ Methods] Questionnaire surveys were distributed among 5,600 residents of City A in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. The questionnaires inquired regarding respondents’ attributes, handling the conflicts of opinions among family members and other interested people, health status, experience regarding thinking about death, awareness about the necessity of having discussions about end-of-life care, experience of having any such discussions, selection of proxy decision-makers, and intentions and behaviors related to the designation of written end-of-life preferences.
[ Results] The data of 1,778 respondents were analyzed. The following factors were associated with the discussion experience: awareness about the necessity of having the discussions (OR: 4.91, 95%CI: 2.14–11.30), experience regarding thinking about death (OR: 3.22, 95%CI: 2.09–4.96), selection of proxy decision-makers (behaviors) (OR: 2.60, 95%CI: 1.66–4.06), the designation of written end-of-life preferences (behaviors) (OR: 2.56, 95%CI: 1.53–4.30), the designation of the primary care physician (OR: 2.24, 95%CI: 1.33–3.75), and avoiding the subject (OR: 0.60, 95%CI: 0.40–0.90).
[ Conclusions] Increasing awareness about the necessity of having the discussions, having experiences regarding thinking about death, behaviors related to the selection of proxy decision-makers, designation of written end-of-life preferences, relationships with primary care physicians, and not avoiding the subject even in the event of disagreement were the factors that facilitated the discussions.
