A better understanding of differences between the preferences of the general public and the recommendations of healthcare providers with regard to end-of-life (EOL) care may facilitate EOL discussion. The aim of this study was to clarify differences between preferences of the general public and recommendations of healthcare providers with regard to treatment, EOL care, and life-sustaining treatment (LST) based on a hypothetical scenario involving a patient with advanced cancer. This study comprised exploratory post-hoc analyses of “The Survey of Public Attitude Towards Medical Care at the End of life”, which was a population based, cross-sectional anonymous survey in Japan to investigate public attitudes toward medical care at the end of life. Persons living in Japan over 20 years old were randomly selected nationwide. Physicians, nurses, and care staff were recruited at randomly selected facilities throughout Japan. The general public data from the original study was combined to the data of healthcare providers in order to conduct exploratory post-hoc analyses. The preferences of the general public and recommendations of healthcare providers with regard to EOL care and LST was assessed based on the hypothetical scenario of an advanced cancer patient. All returned questionnaires were analyzed: 973 from the general public, 1039 from physicians, 1854 from nurses, and 752 from care staff (response rates of 16.2, 23.1, 30.9, and 37.6%, respectively). The proportion of the general public who wanted “chemotherapy or radiation”, “ventilation”, and “cardiopulmonary resuscitation” was significantly higher than the frequency of these options being recommended by physicians, nurses, and care staff, but the general public preference for “cardiopulmonary resuscitation” was significantly lower than the frequency of its recommendation by care staff. Regarding a hypothetical scenario for advanced cancer, the general public preferred more aggressive treatment and more frequent LST than that recommended by healthcare providers.

中文翻译：

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公众的临终关怀偏好和医疗保健提供者的建议：日本全国范围内的调查


更好地了解公众偏好与医疗保健提供者关于临终 (EOL) 护理的建议之间的差异可能会促进 EOL 讨论。本研究的目的是基于涉及晚期癌症患者的假设场景，澄清公众的偏好与医疗保健提供者在治疗、EOL 护理和生命维持治疗 (LST) 方面的建议之间的差异。本研究包括对“公众对临终医疗护理的态度调查”的探索性事后分析，这是日本一项基于人口的横断面匿名调查，旨在调查公众对临终医疗护理的态度。居住在日本的20岁以上的人是在全国范围内随机抽取的。医生、护士和护理人员是在日本各地随机选择的机构中招募的。将原始研究的一般公共数据与医疗保健提供者的数据相结合，以便进行探索性事后分析。根据晚期癌症患者的假设情况，评估了公众对 EOL 护理和 LST 的偏好以及医疗保健提供者的建议。对所有回收的问卷进行了分析：973 份来自公众，1039 份来自医生，1854 份来自护士，752 份来自护理人员（答复率分别为 16.2%、23.1%、30.9% 和 37.6%）。 想要“化疗或放疗”、“通气”和“心肺复苏”的公众比例明显高于医生、护士和护理人员推荐这些选项的频率，但公众更倾向于“ “心肺复苏”的频率明显低于护理人员推荐的频率。对于晚期癌症的假设情况，公众更喜欢比医疗保健提供者建议的更积极的治疗和更频繁的 LST。