Exploring the Impact of Different Types of Do-Not-Resuscitate Consent on End-of-Life Treatments among Patients with Advanced Kidney Disease: An Observational Study

Background: Patients with advanced kidney disease have a symptomatic and psychological burden which warrant renal supportive care or palliative care. However, the impact of do-not-resuscitate consent type (signed by patients or surrogates) on end-of-life treatments in these patients remains unclear. Objective: We aim to identify influential factors correlated with different do-not-resuscitate consent types in patients with advanced kidney disease and the impact of do-not-resuscitate consent types on various life-prolonging treatments. Methods: This was a retrospective observational study. We included patients aged 20 years and over, diagnosed with advanced kidney disease and receiving palliative and hospice care consultation services between January 2014 and December 2018 in a tertiary teaching hospital in Taiwan. We reviewed medical records and used logistic regression to identify factors associated with do-not-resuscitate consent types and end-of-life treatments. Results: A total of 275 patients were included, in which 21% signed their do-not-resuscitate consents. A total of 233 patients were followed until death, and 32% of the decedents continued hemodialysis, 75% underwent nasogastric (NG) tube placement, and 70% took antibiotics in their final seven days of life. Do-not-resuscitate consents signed by patients were associated with reduced life-prolonging treatments including feeding tube placement and antibiotic use in the last seven days (odd ratio and 95% confidence interval were 0.16, 0.07–0.34 and 0.33, 0.16–0.69, respectively) compared to do-not-resuscitate consents signed by surrogates. Conclusions: Do-not-resuscitate consent signed by patients and not by surrogates may reflect better patients’ autonomy and reduced life-prolonging treatments in the final seven days of patients with advanced kidney disease.