title: Coping styles, health status and advance care planning in patients with hematologic malignancies.
abstract: This study evaluated whether measures of psychological well-being, including coping style, are associated with advance care planning (ACP). Data were from the Hematology Communications Study (HEMA-COMM), a prospective observational study of physician-patient communication in patients with hematologic malignancies. ACP was defined as having a living will, having a health care proxy, discussing life support with family or friends and discussing life support with a doctor or nurse. A total of 293 patients participated: only 45 (15%) had all the elements of ACP; 215 (73%) had at least one element of ACP, while 33 (11%) did not engage in ACP. In multivariate analysis, specific coping styles but not other measures of psychosocial well-being were associated with having written ACP. Verbal ACP was associated with patient-reported health and physician estimate of life expectancy. Our study suggests that tailoring ACP discussions to a patient's coping style may increase engagement in ACP.
authors.affiliation: University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198-7689, USA. floberiza@unmc.edu
authors.forename: Fausto R
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Loberiza
authors.forename: Barbara A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Swore-Fletcher
authors.forename: Susan D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Block
authors.forename: Anthony L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Back
authors.forename: Roberta E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Goldman
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Tulsky
authors.forename: Stephanie J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D032722:Advance Care Planning; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D019337:Hematologic Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008017:Life Expectancy; D008020:Life Support Care / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D055815:Young Adult