Evaluating the Levels of Awareness of and Attitudes on Advance Directives Among Primary Care Physicians in Puerto Rico

Abstract

Objective: Advance directives (ADs) are legal documents designed to guarantee a patient’s preference of care for the future. Primary care physicians (PCPs) have long been identified as key to promoting AD completion among patients. Furthermore, PCPs’ levels of awareness of and attitudes toward ADs have been related to positive completion rates in patients. In this project, we sought to identify the levels of awareness and attitudes towards ADs in Puerto Rican PCPs. Methods: Self-administered questionnaires were distributed at primary care medical conferences in Puerto Rico (PR) to explore the levels of awareness and attitudes of PCPs on ADs. Results: A total of 332 surveys were collected. Overall, PCPs in PR had high selfrated knowledge of ADs, with the highest being reported among internal medicine physicians (8.63 ± 1.51). However, this self-rating was in stark contrast with the lower than 60% level of awareness of and commitment to reading the applicable laws on ADs in PR across all specialties. Puerto Rican PCPs showed strongly positive attitudes towards ADs and recognized them as useful tools for patients, healthcare workers, and families, enabling them to make healthcare decisions. Internal medicine practitioners showed the strongest positive attitudes of all PCPs. Despite the perceived usefulness of ADs, Puerto Rican PCPs had a low predisposition to complete their own ADs in the short term. Conclusion: Our results suggest that improvements in the education of health professionals with regard to ADs are needed to increase in physicians both their knowledge of the legal standards governing ADs and their commitment to ensuring that patients complete such directives.