Physicians' knowledge about the efficacy and value of aggressive end-of-life care may affect their own end-of-life treatment choices, according to a research letter published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Here are five insights:
1. The investigators reviewed Medicare claims data and electronic death records for 666,579 people — including 2,396 physicians and 2,081 lawyers — who died at age 65 or older.
2. They looked at five validated end-of-life care intensity measures — surgery, hospice care, intensive care unit admission, death in the hospital and expenditures.
3. Nearly 28 percent of physicians were likely to die in a hospital, as compared to 32 percent of the general population.
4. Additionally, physicians were less likely to have surgery or be admitted to the intensive care unit in the last six months of their lives.
5. "Patients often ask their doctors what they would do or what they would choose for their own family members," said Zara Cooper, MD, of Boston-based Brigham and Women's Hospital and co-author of the letter. "This research could have a significant impact on clinical practice, especially in the way that healthcare professionals communicate with patients and family members about end-of-life care options."