Changes in the Use of Do-not-resuscitate Orders After Implementation of the Patient Self-Determination Act

Objective: To determine changes in the use of do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders and mortality rates following a DNR order after the Patient Self-determination Act (PSDA) was implemented in December 1991.

Design: Time-series.

Setting: Twenty-nine hospitals in Northeast Ohio.

Patients/participants: Medicare patients (N = 91,539) hospitalized with myocardial infarction, heart failure, gastrointestinal hemorrhage, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pneumonia, or stroke.

Measurements And Main Results: The use of "early" (first 2 hospital days) and "late" DNR orders was determined from chart abstractions. Deaths within 30 days after a DNR order were identified from Medicare Provider Analysis and Review files. Risk-adjusted rates of early DNR orders increased by 34% to 66% between 1991 and 1992 for 4 of the 6 conditions and then remained flat or declined slightly between 1992 and 1997. Use of late DNR orders declined by 29% to 53% for 4 of the 6 conditions between 1991 and 1997. Risk-adjusted mortality during the 30 days after a DNR order was written did not change between 1991 and 1997 for 5 conditions, but risk-adjusted mortality increased by 21% and 25% for stroke patients with early DNR and late DNR orders, respectively.

Conclusions: Overall use of DNR orders changed relatively little after passage of the PSDA, because the increase in the use of early DNR orders between 1991 and 1992 was counteracted by decreasing use of late DNR orders. Risk-adjusted mortality rates after a DNR order generally remained stable, suggesting that there were no dramatic changes in quality of care or aggressiveness of care for patients with DNR orders. However, the increasing mortality for stroke patients warrants further examination.