Advance directives and do-not-resuscitate orders in patients with cancer with metastatic spinal cord compression: advanced care planning implications.
Title
Advance directives and do-not-resuscitate orders in patients with cancer with metastatic spinal cord compression: advanced care planning implications.
Creator
Guo Y; Palmer JL; Bianty J; Konzen B; Shin Ki; Bruera E
Identifier
Publisher
Journal Of Palliative Medicine
Date
2010
Subject
Female; Humans; Male; United States; Young Adult; Physician-Patient Relations; Adult; Aged; Middle Aged; Communication; 80 and over; DNAR; Palliative Care/lj [Legislation & Jurisprudence]; Advance Directives/lj [Legislation & Jurisprudence]; Health Planning/lj [Legislation & Jurisprudence]; Neoplasms/pa [Pathology]; Resuscitation Orders/lj [Legislation & Jurisprudence]; Spinal Cord Compression/et [Etiology]; Spinal Cord Compression/pa [Pathology]; Spinal Neoplasms/co [Complications]; Spinal Neoplasms/sc [Secondary]; Palliative Care/ut [Utilization]
Description
OBJECTIVES: Communication about end-of-life decisions is crucial. Although patients with metastatic spinal cord compression (MSCC) have a median survival time of 3 to 6 months, few data are available concerning the presence of advance directives and do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders in this population. The objective of this study was to determine presence of advance directives and DNR order among patients with MSCC., METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed data concerning advance directives for 88 consecutive patients with cancer who had MSCC and required rehabilitation consultation at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center from September 20, 2005 to August 29, 2008. We characterized the data using univariate descriptive statistics and used the Fisher exact test to find correlations., RESULTS: The mean age of this patient population was 55 years (range, 24-81). Thirty patients (33%) were female. Twenty patients (23%) had a living will, 27 patients (31%) had health care proxies, and 10 patients (11%) had either out-of-hospital DNR order and/or dictated DNR note. The median survival time for these patients was 4.3 months., CONCLUSION: Despite strong evidence showing short survival times for MSCC patients, it seems many of these patients are not aware of the urgency to have an advance directive. This may be an indicator of delayed end-of-life palliative care and suboptimal doctor-patient communication. Using the catastrophic event of a diagnosis of MSCC to trigger communication and initiate palliative care may be beneficial to patients and their families.
2010
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).
Type
Journal Article
Citation List Month
Backlog
URL Address
Citation
Guo Y; Palmer JL; Bianty J; Konzen B; Shin Ki; Bruera E, “Advance directives and do-not-resuscitate orders in patients with cancer with metastatic spinal cord compression: advanced care planning implications.,” Pediatric Palliative Care Library, accessed April 29, 2025, https://pedpalascnetlibrary.omeka.net/items/show/14237.