title: Attitudes towards Advance Care Planning and Healthcare Autonomy among Community-Dwelling Older Adults in Beijing, China.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the preferences of ACP and healthcare autonomy in community-dwelling older Chinese adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted with older adults living in the residential estate of Chaoyang District, Beijing.
  
  
  RESULTS
  900 residents were enrolled. 80.9% of them wanted to hear the truth regarding their own condition from the physician; 52.4% preferred to make their own healthcare decisions. Only 8.9% of them preferred to endure life-prolonging interventions when faced with irreversible conditions. 78.3% of the respondents had not heard of an ACP; only 39.4% preferred to document in an ACP. Respondents with higher education had significantly higher proportion of having heard of an ACP, as well as preferring to document in an ACP, compared to those with lower education. Those aged <70 years had higher proportion of having heard of an ACP, as well as refusing life-prolonging interventions when faced with irreversible conditions, compared to those aged ≥ 70 years.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although the majority of community-dwelling older Chinese adults appeared to have healthcare autonomy and refuse life-prolonging interventions in terms of end-of-life care, a low level of "Planning ahead" awareness and preference was apparent. Age and education level may be the influential factors.
authors: Department of Geriatrics, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100730, China.
authors: Ning
authors: N
authors: Zhang
authors: Department of Geriatrics, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100730, China.
authors: Xiao-hong
authors: XH
authors: Ning
authors: Department of Geriatrics, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100730, China.
authors: Ming-lei
authors: ML
authors: Zhu
authors: Department of Geriatrics, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100730, China.
authors: Xiao-hong
authors: XH
authors: Liu
authors: Department of Neurology, Hebei Geriatric Hospital, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China.
authors: Jing-bing
authors: JB
authors: Li
authors: Department of Geriatrics, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors: Qian
authors: Q
authors: Liu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002681:China; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000639:trends; D005260:Female; D006289:Health Planning Support / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors