Published in:
01-08-2015 | Original Research
A Randomized Controlled Trial of a CPR and Intubation Video Decision Support Tool for Hospitalized Patients
Published in: Journal of General Internal Medicine | Issue 8/2015
Login to get accessABSTRACT
BACKGROUND
Decisions about cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and intubation are a core part of advance care planning, particularly for seriously ill hospitalized patients. However, these discussions are often avoided.
OBJECTIVES
We aimed to examine the impact of a video decision tool for CPR and intubation on patients’ choices, knowledge, medical orders, and discussions with providers.
DESIGN
This was a prospective randomized trial conducted between 9 March 2011 and 1 June 2013 on the internal medicine services at two hospitals in Boston.
PARTICIPANTS
One hundred and fifty seriously ill hospitalized patients over the age of 60 with an advanced illness and a prognosis of 1 year or less were included. Mean age was 76 and 51 % were women.
INTERVENTION
Three-minute video describing CPR and intubation plus verbal communication of participants’ preferences to their physicians (intervention) (N = 75) or control arm (usual care) (N = 75).
MAIN MEASURES
The primary outcome was participants’ preferences for CPR and intubation (immediately after viewing the video in the intervention arm). Secondary outcomes included: orders to withhold CPR/intubation, documented discussions with providers during hospitalization, and participants’ knowledge of CPR/ intubation (five-item test, range 0–5, higher scores indicate greater knowledge).
RESULTS
Intervention participants (vs. controls) were more likely not to want CPR (64 % vs. 32 %, p <0.0001) and intubation (72 % vs. 43 %, p < 0.0001). Intervention participants (vs. controls) were also more likely to have orders to withhold CPR (57 % vs. 19 %, p < 0.0001) and intubation (64 % vs.19 %, p < 0.0001) by hospital discharge, documented discussions about their preferences (81 % vs. 43 %, p < 0.0001), and higher mean knowledge scores (4.11 vs. 2.45; p < 0.0001).
CONCLUSIONS
Seriously ill patients who viewed a video about CPR and intubation were more likely not to want these treatments, be better informed about their options, have orders to forgo CPR/ intubation, and discuss preferences with providers.
Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT01325519
Registry Name: A prospective randomized trial using video images in advance care planning in seriously ill hospitalized patients.