Preferences for life-prolonging medical treatments and deference to the will of god.
We defined and measured a dimension of religiosity frequently invoked in end-of-life (EOL) research-deference to God's Will (GW)-and examined its relationship to preferences for life-prolonging treatments. In a 35-min telephone interview, 304 older men and women (60 +) were administered the 5-item GW scale, sociodemographic questions, three attitude items regarding length of life, and measures of two health indices, depression, and life-prolonging treatment preferences. The GW scale demonstrated internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = .94) and predictive and discriminant validity. Higher scores indicative of greater deference to GW were associated with stronger life-prolonging treatment preferences in poor-prognosis scenarios. Implications for the role of religiosity in medical decision-making are discussed.
Winter
Laraine
L
Center for Applied Research on Aging and Health, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA. Laraine.Winter@Jefferson.edu
Dennis
Marie P
MP
Parker
Barbara
B
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008020:Life Support Care / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008609:Mental Status Schedule / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D057240:Patient Preference; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D012068:Religion and Medicine; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012803:Sick Role