Trial reportThe American journal of hospice & palliative care2018
A Randomized Controlled Trial of Strategies to Improve Family Members' Preparedness for Surrogate Decision-Making.
Trial report in The American journal of hospice & palliative care, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Pooled it
- Decision coaching for people making healthcare decisions.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- The Value of Advance Care Planning for Spokespersons of Patients With Advanced Illness.Journal of pain and symptom management · 2023Trial
- Conceptualization of Surrogate Decision-making Among Spokespersons for Chronically Ill Patients.JAMA network open · 2022Trial
- Does Caregiver Participation in Advance Care Planning Using a Decision Support Tool Together With Patients Reduce Caregiver Strain, Burden and Anxiety Over Time? A Post-Hoc Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial.The American journal of hospice & palliative care · 2022Trial
- What Surrogates Understand (and Don't Understand) About Patients' Wishes After Engaging Advance Care Planning: A Qualitative Analysis.The American journal of hospice & palliative care · 2022Trial
- Effect of Advance Care Planning on Surrogate Decision Makers' Preparedness for Decision Making: Results of a Mixed-Methods Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of palliative medicine · 2021Trial
- Surrogate Decision Maker Stress in Advance Care Planning Conversations: A Mixed-Methods Analysis From a Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of pain and symptom management · 2020Trial
- A psychometric evaluation of the Family Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale among surrogate decision-makers of the critically ill.Palliative & supportive care · 2020Trial
- Patient Preference to Accept Medical Treatment Is Associated with Spokesperson Agreement.Annals of the American Thoracic Society · 2019Trial
- Family Caregivers' Characterization of Conversations Following an ACP Event.The American journal of hospice & palliative care · 2018Trial
- Advance care planning readiness, barriers, and facilitators among seriously ill Black older adults and their surrogates: A mixed methods study.Palliative & supportive care · 2025Article
- Article
- Effects of a structured, family-supported, and patient-centred advance care planning on end-of-life decision making among palliative care patients and their family members: protocol of a randomised controlled trial.BMC palliative care · 2024Article
- Cultural Values Influence on Rural Family Caregivers' Decision-Making for Ill Older Adult Loved Ones.Journal of pain and symptom management · 2024Article
- What Clinicians and Researchers Should Know About the Evolving Field of Advance Care Planning: a Narrative Review.Journal of general internal medicine · 2024Review
- What Counts as a Surrogate Decision?The American journal of hospice & palliative care · 2024Article
- Surrogate decision-makers from historically marginalized populations have lower levels of preparedness for care planning.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2024Article
- Intrinsic Traits Such as Personality and Decision-Making Style are Predictive of Stress in Surrogate Decision-Makers.The American journal of hospice & palliative care · 2023Article
- A case for preference-sensitive decision timelines to aid shared decision-making in intensive care: need and possible application.Frontiers in digital health · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo evaluate 2 strategies for preparing family members for surrogate decision-making.
designA 2 × 2 factorial, randomized controlled trial testing whether: (1) comprehensive online advance care planning (ACP) is superior to basic ACP, and (2) having patients engage in ACP together with family members is superior to ACP done by patients alone.
settingTertiary care centers in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and Boston, Massachusetts.
participantsDyads of patients with advanced, severe illness (mean age 64; 46% female; 72% white) and family members who would be their surrogate decision-makers (mean age 56; 75% female; 75% white).
interventionsBasic ACP: state-approved online advance directive plus brochure. Making Your Wishes Known (MYWK): Comprehensive ACP decision aid including education and values clarification. MEASUREMENTS: Pre-post changes in family member self-efficacy (100-point scale) and postintervention concordance between patients and family members using clinical vignettes.
resultsA total 285 dyads enrolled; 267 patients and 267 family members completed measures. Baseline self-efficacy in both MYWK and basic ACP groups was high (90.2 and 90.1, respectively), and increased postintervention to 92.1 for MYWK ( P = .13) and 93.3 for basic ACP ( P = .004), with no between-group difference. Baseline self-efficacy in alone and together groups was also high (90.2 and 90.1, respectively), and increased to 92.6 for alone ( P = .03) and 92.8 for together ( P = .03), with no between-group difference. Overall adjusted concordance was higher in MYWK compared to basic ACP (85.2% vs 79.7%; P = .032), with no between-group difference.
conclusionThe disconnect between confidence and performance raises questions about how to prepare family members to be surrogate decision-makers.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.