Seminars on advance directives for adult outpatients increased completion rates
Objective
To determine whether attendance at an educational seminar compared with receipt of postal information will increase the completion of advance directives by medical outpatients.
Design
Randomised controlled trial.
Setting
An internal medicine clinic in a military teaching hospital in Washington, DC, USA.
Patients
187 patients (mean age 62 y, 55% women, 67% white) who did not have a written living will (advance directive) and requested information via a questionnaire filled out during a clinic visit. Exclusion criterion was inability to complete the questionnaire. Follow up was 91% at 1 month.
Intervention
95 patients were allocated to a standardised 60 minute seminar with 20 patients in each group. The seminar included a 10 minute didactic presentation on advance directives, durable power of attorney for health care, and organ donation; a 15 minute videotape provided by the New York Society for the Right to Die describing the formulation of advance …
