Advance care planning in nursing homes: pre- and post-Patient Self-Determination Act

Abstract

Objectives: (1) To identify resident and organizational factors associated with the use of advance care plans pre- and post-implementation of the Patient Self-Determination Act (PSDA), and (2) to identify changes (pre- and post-implementation of the PSDA) in the relationship between these factors and the use of advance care plans.

Design: Complex, multistage cluster sampling.

Setting: Ten states were selected for variation in geographic location, Medicaid reimbursement rate, and average staffing patterns. Participants were 4,215 nursing home residents in 268 facilities.

Principal findings: Seventeen resident and organizational factors were associated with the use of do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders in 1990, and 12 resident and organizational factors were associated with their use in 1993. Five factors showed a significant change from 1990 to 1993: activities of daily living (ADL) scores, race, cognitive performance scale (CPS) scores, full-time equivalent (FTE) nurse aides per resident, and bed size. Ten resident and organizational factors were associated with use of do-not-hospitalize (DNH) orders in 1990 and six resident and organizational factors were associated with DNH orders in 1993. Four factors showed a significant change from 1990 to 1993: legal guardian, FTE LPNs per resident, Medicaid census, and forprofit ownership. Five resident and organizational factors were associated with the use of living wills in 1990 and seven resident and organizational factors were associated with the use of living wills in 1993. Four factors showed a significant change from 1990 to 1993: ADL scores, race, length of stay, and for-profit ownership.

Conclusion: The results indicate that the PSDA may have been successful in increasing the use of advance care plans and in changing the types of residents who use advance care plans. However, they also show that the use of advance care plans is associated with organizational characteristics, indicating that some types of facilities may be more willing and able to address the PSDA mandates.