[How stable is the attitude of aged people towards life-extending measures? Results of a 3-year follow-up in nursing home residents].
OBJECTIVE
To explore the stability of attitude towards life-extending measures in aged people.


METHODS
Face-to-face interviews of nursing home residents at an interval of 3 years (prospective longitudinal survey).


RESULTS
During the first interview period in 1997 (n=50), 19 nursing home residents (38%) had advocated treatment with antibiotics in a hypothetical scenario of acute life-threatening pneumonia. 15 individuals (30%) had refused such treatment, while statements from a further 16 (32%) had been ambivalent. Three years later, 19 individuals could be re-interviewed (28 had died in the meantime, 3 suffered from advanced dementia). 16 of these expressed the same or a similar attitude towards the above scenario as they did three years earlier (correspondence 84.2%, p<0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
The results indicate a high stability of attitude towards life-extending measures in aged people. This finding may have implications for the meaning of advance directives in geriatric long-term care.
Institut für Rechtsmedizin, Universität Zürich-Irchel, Winterthurerstrasse 190/Bau 52, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland.
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Bosshard
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Wettstein
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Bär
D016223:Advance Directives / Q000523:psychology; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D005066:Euthanasia, Passive / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006707:Homes for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D008020:Life Support Care / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D009735:Nursing Homes; D013557:Switzerland