title: Documentation of advance directives among home health and hospice patients: United States, 2007.
abstract: This report provides nationally representative data on documentation of advance directives (ADs) among home health (HH) and hospice patients. Advance directives were recorded for 29% of HH patients and 90% of hospice discharges. Among HH patients, increasing age and use of assistive devices were associated with greater odds of having an AD, while being Hispanic or black (relative to white) and enrolled in Medicaid decreased the odds of having ADs. Among hospice discharges, being enrolled in Medicare and having 4 or 5 activities of daily living (ADL) limitations were associated with higher odds of ADs while depression, use of emergency services, and being black (relative to White) were associated with lower odds. Even after adjustment for potentially confounding factors, racial differences persist in AD documentation in both care settings.
authors.affiliation: LeadingAge Center for Applied Research, Washington, DC, USA. hresnick@leadingage.org
authors.forename: Helaine E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Resnick
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hickman
authors.forename: Gregory L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Foster
mesh_terms: D016223:Advance Directives / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004282:Documentation / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D018574:Home Care Agencies / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017051:Hospice Care / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008499:Medical Records / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014481:United States