Table 5 Discussion of medical end-of-life decisionsa in function of the patient’s decision-making capacity, Switzerland 2013, by language region
From: Medical end-of-life practices in Swiss cultural regions: a death certificate study
Regions | German-speaking | French-speaking | Italian-speaking | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Deaths with end-of-life practice mentioned (eligible for involvement) | N = 1856 | N = 744 | N = 318 | |||
%b | 95% CI | %b | 95% CI | %b | 95% CI | |
Discussed with patient | 35.6% | (33.4–37.5) | 31.2% | (27.9–34.6) | 16.0% | (12.4–20.4) |
Patient fully capable | 73.3% | (69.6–76.6) | 71.2% | (65.3–76.5) | 60.0% | (47.2–71.6) |
Patient not fully capable | 37.1% | (32.3–42.3) | 30.3% | (22.9–38.8) | 8.4% | (3.8–17.6) |
Patient not capable at all | 9.7% | (7.6–12.2) | 5.8% | (3.4–9.6) | 6.9% | (3.6–12.8) |
Patient’s capacity unknown | 3.4% | (1.7–6.7) | – | – | ||
Discussed with patient and/or relatives and/or patient ever expressed wish | 76.5% | (74.5–78.4) | 73.8% | (70.5–76.9) | 69.0% | (63.7–73.8) |
Patient fully capable | 87.8% | (85.0–90.2) | 88.5% | (84.0–91.9) | 87.4% | (76.5–93.6) |
Patient not fully capable | 85.3% | (81.2–88.6) | 82.9% | (75.3–88.5) | 75.6% | (64.4–84.1) |
Patient not capable at all | 79.8% | (76.5–82.7) | 82.2% | (76.6–86.6) | 82.8% | (75.3–88.4) |
Patient’s capacity unknown | 22.1% | (17.2–28.0) | 20.4% | (14.2–28.4) | 13.1% | (6.6–24.2) |