A prospective study of the efficacy of the physician order form for life-sustaining treatment.
OBJECTIVE
The Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST), a comprehensive, one-page order form, was developed to convey preferences for life-sustaining treatments during transfer from one care site to another. This study examined the extent to which the POLST form ensured that nursing home residents' wishes were honored for Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) and requests for transfer only if comfort measures fail.


METHODS
The study used chart record data to follow prospectively a sample of nursing home residents with the POLST.


METHODS
Eight geographically diverse, long-term, adult-care facilities in Oregon in which the POLST was in use.


METHODS
Nursing home residents (n = 180), who had a POLST recording DNR designation and who indicated a desire for transfer only if comfort measures failed, were followed for 1 year.


METHODS
For all subjects: treatment and disposition after significant health status changes; orders for narcotics and for provision or limitation of aggressive interventions. For hospitalized subjects: diagnosis, medical interventions, and DNR orders. For those who died: cause and location of death, life-sustaining treatments attempted, and comfort measures provided.


RESULTS
No study subject received CPR, ICU care, or ventilator support, and only 2% were hospitalized to extend life. Of the 38 subjects who died during the study year, 63% had an order for narcotics, and only two (5%) died in an acute care hospital. A total of 24 subjects (13%) were hospitalized during the year. Hospitalized subjects' mean length of stay was 4.9 days, and the mean rate of hospitalizations for all subjects was 174 per 1000 resident years. In 85% of all hospitalizations, patients were transferred because the nursing home could not control suffering. In 15% of hospitalizations (n = 4), the transfer was to extend life, overriding POLST orders.


CONCLUSIONS
POLST orders regarding CPR in nursing home residents in this study were universally respected. Study subjects received remarkably high levels of comfort care and low rates of transfer for aggressive life-extending treatments.
Tolle
S W
SW
Center for Ethics in Health Care, Division of General Internal Medicine, Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland 97201-3098, USA.
Tilden
V P
VP
Nelson
C A
CA
Dunn
P M
PM
D032722:Advance Care Planning; D024362:Advance Directive Adherence; D016223:Advance Directives; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008020:Life Support Care; D008297:Male; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009922:Oregon; D010360:Patient Transfer / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D011996:Records; D016414:Resuscitation Orders; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D028761:Withholding Treatment