Advanced care planning in cystic fibrosis

Title

Advanced care planning in cystic fibrosis

Creator

Linnemann RW; Friedman D; Altstein L; Georgiopoulos A; Islam S; Bach K; St John A; Moskowitz SM; Yonker LM

Identifier

Publisher

Pediatric Pulmonology

Date

2017

Subject

cystic fibrosis; 7782-44-7 (oxygen); chest tube; Child; Clinical Article; comfort; durable power of attorney; Female; Forced Expiratory Volume; hemoptysis; Hospitalization; Human; lifespan; living will; Male; outpatient; oxygen; Palliative therapy; Pilot study; pneumothorax; practice guideline; school child; thinking

Description

Background: Advanced care planning (ACP) is recommended for people with cystic fibrosis (CF). To date, a CF-specific consensus statement that would help CF care teams incorporate ACP into clinical practice has not been developed. Additional research on ACP topics and preferences for optimal implementation is needed to support evidence-based incorporation into routine CF care. Objective: To assess ACP experiences and preferences among individuals with CF in order to inform future interventions aimed at improving ACP in CF. Methods: We surveyed 41 patients with CF aged >=12 years participating in a pilot study of a primary palliative care intervention (Coping, goal Assessment, and Relief from Evolving CF Symptoms [CF-CARES]). We assessed 4 domains of ACP: prior thoughts about ACP, comfort with ACP, preferences for ACP, and prior completion of ACP. We also evaluated the impact of disease severity on certain measures. Severe disease was defined as: Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second (FEV<inf>1</inf>) <30%, >=4 CF hospitalizations in past year, ever had pneumothorax requiring chest tube placement, ever had massive hemoptysis/hemoptysis requiring hospitalization, or current home oxygen use. Results: We found that most participants worry about ACP topics: 92% worry about the impact of CF on their lifespan and 84% worry about what living with CF would be like if they were to get sicker. The majority (52%) had thought at least "somewhat" about what their important goals and wishes would be if their health situation were to worsen. Only 37% had specific wishes about the types of medical treatment they would or wouldn't want at end of life. The vast majority of participants reported feeling very comfortable talking with CF providers about ACP topics. However, only 5% reported previously talking to a CF team member about the care they would want if they became too ill to make decisions on their own. Few participants (11%) had completed a durable power of attorney for health care or living will. Participants overall preferred to have ACP discussions initiated by any member of the CF team who knows them well, during a period of stability when generally healthy but meeting a certain threshold (e.g. >=4 hospitalizations per year or FEV<inf>1</inf> <40%), and in the outpatient setting. Severe disease was not statistically associated with subjects' worry about getting sicker, comfort talking to CF providers about ACP, or setting preferences for ACP. Conclusions: Our results support the need for a consistent approach to ACP for CF patients earlier in the illness course when patients are still generally healthy. People with CF appear to worry about ACP topics, but need more support from the CF team to understand and document their ACP choices. Future guidelines on ACP in CF, as well as CF-specific ACP materials for patients, may help ensure that all individuals with CF benefit from ACP..

Rights

Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).

Citation List Month

January 2018 List

Collection

Citation

Linnemann RW; Friedman D; Altstein L; Georgiopoulos A; Islam S; Bach K; St John A; Moskowitz SM; Yonker LM, “Advanced care planning in cystic fibrosis,” Pediatric Palliative Care Library, accessed March 28, 2024, https://pedpalascnetlibrary.omeka.net/items/show/11225.