Patients Who Elect “Full Code” Resuscitation Status at the Time of Hospice Enrollment: Who are They?

Although a few studies have examined treatment preferences of terminally ill patients, much of the research has focused on patients with cancer and most data were collected outside of the United States. The proportion of patients who elect “Full Code” has not been reported, and no published studies have examined how “Full Code” patients differ from their “DNR” counterparts. The session will discuss a retrospective chart review to determine the proportion of patients who elected “Full Code” resuscitation status at the time of hospice enrollment, and to ascertain whether these patients differed from “DNR” patients in terms of terminal diagnosis, socio-demographic characteristics, advance directive completion, life expectancy or location of death.