Dr. Anna Kata and Pepper REC Scholar Alumni, Dr. Vicky Tang, publish their article titled "Advance Care Planning Prior to Death in Older Adults with Hip Fracture" with their research team Irena Cenzer, Drs. Rebecca Sudore and Ken Covinsky.
Although hip fractures in older adults are associated with a high degree of mortality and disability, the use of advance care planning (ACP) in this population is unknown. To determine the prevalence of ACP and the need for surrogate decision-making prior to death in older adults with hip fracture and to identify factors associated with ACP. To study this, the research team looked at survey responses by proxies that were used to determine ACP, defined by either advance directive completion or surrogate designation, and assessed decision-making at the end of life. Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the correlates of ACP. in conclusion, a considerable number of older adults with hip fracture required surrogate decision-making at the end of life, of whom one fifth had no ACP prior to death. Clinicians providing care for these patients are uniquely poised to address ACP.