title: Nutrition support at the end of life: opinions of Louisiana dietitians.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine the opinions of registered dietitians in Louisiana concerning nutrition support at the end of life. A questionnaire was mailed to the 777 active members of the Louisiana Dietetic Association. Questions addressed 3 issues: removal of nutrition support, the role of patients and family in decision making, and the role of the dietitian in decisions to use nutrition support for the terminally ill. A mean composite score was determined for each category. Kruskal-Wallis 1-way ANOVA was conducted on the composite scores to determine differences in responses by age, years of practice, and area of current practice. At least 60% of the respondents agreed with foregoing, withholding, or withdrawing nutrition support at the end of life. Most of the dietitians agreed that the patient or family is more qualified than the health care professional to make decisions about nutrition support at the end of life. More than 95% of the dietitians agreed that the dietitian should be involved in the decision-making process. However, only 50% of the dietitians felt fully qualified to provide the information needed to help a patient or family make the decision about nutrition support at the end of life. Differences of opinions about the removal of nutrition support were found by age, number of years of practice, and current area of practice. Results from this study may encourage dietitians to explore their own attitudes and seek continuing education on ethical dilemmas to enable them to make better decisions, provide better care, and become better patient advocates.
authors.affiliation: Christus Schumpert Health System, Shreveport, LA, USA.
authors.forename: Daphne S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Langdon
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hunt
authors.forename: Janet
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pope
authors.forename: Bonnie
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hackes
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001293:Attitude to Death; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003657:Decision Making; D004046:Dietetics / Q000379:methods*; D004995:Ethics, Professional; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008145:Louisiana; D008297:Male; D018529:Nutritional Support / Q000523:psychology*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000379:methods* / Q000523:psychology*