J Pain Symptom Manage. 2020 Sep 16:S0885-3924(20)30742-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2020.09.015. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
CONTEXT: One fundamental way to honor patient autonomy is to establish and enact their wishes for end of life care. Limited research exists regarding adherence with code status.
OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to characterize cardiopulmonary resuscitation attempts discordant with documented code status at the time of death in the United States and to elucidate potential contributing factors.
METHODS: The Cerner APACHE outcomes database, which includes 237 U.S. hospitals that collect manually abstracted data from all critical care patients, was queried for adults admitted to intensive care units with a documented code status at the time of death from January 2008 to December 2016. The primary outcome was discordant cardiopulmonary resuscitation at death. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to identify patient-, and hospital-level associated factors after adjustment for age, hospital, and illness severity (APACHE III score).
RESULTS: A total of 21,537 patients from 56 hospitals were included. Of patients with a do-not-resuscitate code status, 149 (0.8%) received cardiopulmonary resuscitation at death and associated factors included: Black race, higher APACHE III score or treatment in small or non-teaching hospitals. Of patients with a full code status, 203 (9.0%) did not receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation at death and associated factors included: higher APACHE III score, primary neurologic or trauma diagnosis, or admission in a more recent year.
CONCLUSION: At the time of death, 1.6% of patients received or did not undergo cardiopulmonary resuscitation in a manner discordant with their documented code statuses. Race, and institutional factors were associated with discordant resuscitation, and addressing these disparities may promote concordant end-of-life care in all patients.
PMID:32949762 | DOI:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2020.09.015