Danilea M Carmona-Matos, Verónica H Layrisse-Landaeta, Keishla González-Sánchez, Dalilah Reyes-De Jesús, Frank De La Cruz, Krizia Ovando, Yadier Brito-Cuas, Jean Paul Iñesta-Rivera, Shirley Valentín-Berríos, Martha E García-Osorio
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objective: Advance directives (ADs) are legal documents designed to guarantee a patient's preference of care for the future. Primary care physicians (PCPs) have long been identified as key to promoting AD completion among patients. Furthermore, PCPs' levels of awareness of and attitudes toward ADs have been related to positive completion rates in patients. In this project, we sought to identify the levels of awareness and attitudes towards ADs in Puerto Rican PCPs.
Methods: Self-administered questionnaires were distributed at primary care medical conferences in Puerto Rico (PR) to explore the levels of awareness and attitudes of PCPs on ADs.
Results: A total of 332 surveys were collected. Overall, PCPs in PR had high selfrated knowledge of ADs, with the highest being reported among internal medicine physicians (8.63 ± 1.51). However, this self-rating was in stark contrast with the lower than 60% level of awareness of and commitment to reading the applicable laws on ADs in PR across all specialties. Puerto Rican PCPs showed strongly positive attitudes towards ADs and recognized them as useful tools for patients, healthcare workers, and families, enabling them to make healthcare decisions. Internal medicine practitioners showed the strongest positive attitudes of all PCPs. Despite the perceived usefulness of ADs, Puerto Rican PCPs had a low predisposition to complete their own ADs in the short term.
Conclusion: Our results suggest that improvements in the education of health professionals with regard to ADs are needed to increase in physicians both their knowledge of the legal standards governing ADs and their commitment to ensuring that patients complete such directives.
期刊介绍：
The Puerto Rico Health Sciences Journal (PRHSJ) is the scientific journal of the University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus. It was founded in 1982 as a vehicle for the publication of reports on scientific research conducted in-campus, Puerto Rico and abroad. All published work is original and peer-reviewed. The PRHSJ is included in PubMed/Medline, SCOPUS, Latindex, EBSCO, SHERPA/RoMEO, Science Citation Index Expanded (SciSearch®) and Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition. All papers are published both online and in hard copy. From its beginning, the PRHSJ is being published regularly four times a year. The scope of the journal includes a range of medical, dental, public health, pharmaceutical and biosocial sciences research. The journal publishes full-length articles, brief reports, special articles, reviews, editorials, case reports, clinical images, and letters arising from published material.
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