Introduction: The level of knowledge and attitudes of patients towards the previous instructions is a little known subject given that their introduction in the Community of Madrid (CM) is recent.
Aims: To assess the level of knowledge and implementation of advance directives in patients admitted to an Internal Medicine Service of a public hospital in the CM, the attitudes of patients regarding these documents and their correlation with demographic variables.
Patients and methods: A cross-sectional study through structured survey of opinion, closed and voluntarily given to all patients admitted in the Internal Medicine Unit of the University Hospital Alcorcon Foundation on the dates May 20 and June 3, 2008 was carried out.
Results: A total of 155 patients were included, the questions being answered by the patients per se by 57% and by members of theirs families in 42%. Mean age of the patients was 77 years, 50.9% were male and 86.45% were Catholic. Only 7 patients (4.5%) knew what the advance directives were and only one patient had done them. On learning of their existence, 49 patients (31.6%) would like to do the advance instructions. Of the respondents, 80.6% were in favor of having the advance directives document in their medical history and 72.9% do not believe that having these advance directives would change the attitude of their doctor.
Conclusions: Although the regulation of advance directives in the Community of Madrid has already been in force for 5 years, little is known about these documents and they are still in a period of diffusion.
Copyright © 2011 Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.