Impact of a stay in the intensive care unit on the preparation of Advance Directives: Descriptive, exploratory, qualitative study.

Abstract Background Our objective was to assess, through a qualitative, exploratory study, the thought processes of patients regarding the formulation of advance directives (AD) after a stay in the ICU. Methods The study was conducted from May to July 2016 using telephone interviews performed by four senior ICU physicians. Inclusion criteria were: patients discharged from ICU to home > 3 months earlier. Semi-directive interviews with patients focused on 5 main points surrounding AD. Results In total, among 159 eligible patients, data from 94 (59%) were available for analysis. Among all those interviewed, 83.5% had never heard of “advance directives”. Only 2% had executed AD before ICU admis…