Behavioral Intention of Medical Decisions in the Surrogate Decision Makers for Critical Illness Patients and its’ Related Factors

• Main Authors: Szu-Huei Su, 蘇思憓
• Other Authors: Li-Min Wu
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2014
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/mf524x

碩士 === 高雄醫學大學 === 護理學研究所 === 102 === 　　This study aims to explore the behavioral intension of medical decisions in surrogate decision makers for critical illness patients and its’ related factors. It was a cross-sectional correlation study design. Samples were recruited in six ICUs in a medic center in the Southern Taiwan. A total of 193 surrogate decision makers were recruited, with 107 males and 86 females. The average age was 51.7 years old and 71.5% of the surrogates were the children of the critical patients. Four structured questionnaires were used, including the demographic data, the Family Relationship Scale (Cronbach’s α=.95), the Cognitive Scale of Medical Information (Cronbach’s α=.97), and the Behavioral Intention of Medical Decisions Scale (Cronbach’s α=.89). The results of the research were: (1) “The age of the critically ill patients”, “The length of hospitalization of the critical patients”, “Whether the critical patients have established a living will” and “The relationship with the critical patients” are significantly correlated with the decision-making agents’ behavioral intention for medical decisions. (2) “The family relationship between the surrogate decision maker and the critical patient” and “The decision-making agent’s cognitive level of the medical information” are not correlated with the decision-making agents’ behavioral intention for medical decisions. (3) “The age of the critically ill patients”, “Whether the critical patients have established a living will” and “The length of hospitalization of the critical patients” were the predictive factors in the behavioral intention for medical decisions of the surrogate decision maker, explaining 13.9% of the total variances. Based on the research results, it recommended that the clinicians do not only follow the behavioral intention of the surrogate decision maker but also understand related factors influencing the decisions, including the patient age, length of hospitalization, establishment of the living will, and the relationship between the decision-making agent and the critical patient. When informing the decision-making agents of the medical information, assessment of the patient’s medical condition should be made with clear explanation so as to help the surrogate decision maker choose the right medical treatment for the patient. It is suggested that for future research, qualitative data should be added to understand the difficulty faced in the decision-making process, the transition and the mentality along the way.