Docs don't discuss end-of-life care preferences with patients in clinic

Janssen et alsurveyed and prospectively followed 105 Dutch patients with severe COPD and 80 with severe heart failure. Seventy percent of the respondents with COPD wanted full life support in the event of an arrest; ~64% of the CHF patients did. Sixteen to 20% of the doctors reported they had discussed these issues. However, only 4-6% of the responding patients said their doctor had discussed end-of-life care. Survey response rates were 63% for COPD patients and 46% for CHF. CHEST 2011;139:1081-1088.