Living With Dying articles
Doctor Survey Results - online extras
By Leah Carey
Dec. 6, 2016
This survey was distributed to medical professionals at three local health care organizations: Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital in St. Johnsbury, Vermont; North Country Hospital in Newport, Vermont; and Ammonoosuc Community Health Services in Littleton, New Hampshire.
The survey was anonymous.
We received a total of 35 responses.
Question 1
Imagine you have a patient with a terminal condition. Without treatment, statistics say they have approximately 6 months to live, during which they will be able to fully engage in life. With treatment, they have approximately 9 months to live. The treatment has side effects that will affect their ability to fully engage. The patient has said that they trust you completely to make the best recommendation. What is your inclination?
A. Recommend treatment | 0 |
B. Recommend against treatment | 8 |
C. Explain both options equally and don’t make a recommendation | 27 |
Question 2
Imagine your closest loved one (spouse, child, parent, or friend) has been diagnosed with a terminal condition. Without treatment, they have approximately 6 months to live, during which they will be able to fully engage in life. With treatment, they have approximately 9 months to live. The treatment has side effects that will significantly affect their ability to fully engage. Your loved one has said that they trust you to make the best recommendation. What is your inclination?
A. Recommend treatment | 0 |
B. Recommend against treatment | 19 |
C. Explain both options equally and don’t make a recommendation | 16 |
Question 3
Imagine you have been diagnosed with a terminal condition. Without treatment, you have approximately 6 months to live, during which you will be able to fully engage in your life. With treatment, you have approximately 9 months to live. The treatment has side effects that will significantly affect your ability to fully engage. What is your inclination?
A. Choose treatment | 2 |
B. Choose to not have treatment | 31 |
No answer | 1 |
Demographics
Gender:
Female | 18 |
Male | 16 |
No answer | 1 |
Age:
21-30 years old | 2 |
31-40 years old | 6 |
41-50 years old | 5 |
51-60 years old | 11 |
61-70 years old | 10 |
Gender and age:
Male | Female | |
Under 50 | 5 | 8 |
Over 50 | 11 | 10 |
Statistical analysis
Percentage of total respondents:
A | B | C | |
Question 1 | 0% | 24% | 76% |
Question 2 | 0% | 56% | 44% |
Question 3 | 6% | 91% |
Notes of interest:
Doctors in this survey are a bit more than twice as willing to be involved in actual decision making when the patient is a loved one rather than a patient.
While doctors in this survey are willing to make a strong recommendation against treatment to both a patient and a loved one, they are universally unwilling to make a strong recommendation for treatment.
Percentage by gender:
Male (16 respondents)
A | B | C | |
Question 1 | 0% | 31% | 69% |
Question 2 | 0% | 50% | 50% |
Question 3 | 12% | 81% |
Female (18 respondents)
A | B | C | |
Question 1 | 0% | 17% | 83% |
Question 2 | 0% | 56% | 44% |
Question 3 | 0% | 100% |
Notes of interest:
While males are a bit more willing to make a strong recommendation against treatment to a patient, they are also more willing to accept treatment for themselves.
The shift from not making a strong recommendation to a patient to making a strong recommendation against treatment to a loved one is pronounced in the female respondents. They are also universally uninterested in receiving aggressive end-of-life treatment.
Percentage by age range:
Under 50 years old (14 respondents)
A | B | C | |
Question 1 | 0% | 14% | 86% |
Question 2 | 0% | 50% | 50% |
Question 3 | 0% | 100% |
Over 50 years old (21 respondents)
A | B | C | |
Question 1 | 0% | 29% | 71% |
Question 2 | 0% | 57% | 43% |
Question 3 | 10% | 86% |
Notes of interest:
The shifts by age closely mirror the shifts by gender, with women mirroring the under-50 respondents and males mirroring the over-50 respondents.
Full article listing
- Prologue - Mother's Day
- Part 1 - Making Peace With Death During Life
- Part 1a - Creating an environment for a peaceful death
- Part 2 - Musical Pharmaceuticals
- Part 2a - More Musical Pharmaceuticals
- Part 3 - When helping people to die is your work
- Part 3a - Death through the eyes of nurses
- Part 4 - It's always too soon until it's too late
- Part 4a - Advanced directives in an ICU
- Part 5 - I just can't keep from singing
- Part 5a - A heart-to-heart connection
- Part 6 - What we need to know when we help our loved ones to die
- Part 6a - More with Dr. Lakin
- Part 7 - Doctor/patient communication
- Part 7a - Holding two possibilities
- Part 8 - The language of death
- Part 8a - Discovering the patient's goals
- Part 9 - A death midwife
- Part 9a - End-of-life guides
- Part 10 - Signposts of dying
- Part 10a - Signposts in action
- Part 11 - Being a good patient advocate
- Part 11a - Behind the hospital curtain
- Part 12 - Home funerals
- Part 12a - Why embalming?
- Part 13 - End-of-life utterances
- Part 14 - Ongoing end-of-life treatment
- Part 15 - Beyond the statistics
- Part 16 - What doctors want at the end of life
- Part 16a - Doctor survey results
- Part 17 - Doctors talk about end of life
- Part 18 - How to be with someone who is dying
- Part 18a - Local hospice founder
- Part 19 - No regrets
- Part 20 - Do no harm during death
- Part 20a - Becoming a palliative care doctor
- Part 21 - Helping a child to die
- Part 22 - Helping a child to die, pt 2
- Part 22a - Marital stress when a child is dying
- Part 23 - Caregiver exhaustion
- Part 24 - A family's journey with disease
- Part 25 - Teaching the next generation
- Part 26 - A year of Living With Dying