Palliative Care professionals knowledge and attitudes regarding Advance Directives in Metropolitan Region, Chile

Advance Directives are grounded on the principles of respect for autonomy and beneficence. They are recommended in order to facilitate better health decision-making at the end of life. In Chile, they are not legally recognised, and there is limited evidence on the practice, attitudes and knowledge of Advance Directives in our setting. This study aims to determine the degree of knowledge and attitudes towards Advance Directives in palliative care professionals (medical doctors, nurses, psychologists). A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out by means of a questionnaire specifically designed for this study by the researcher. 107 professionals from the 19 Palliative Care Units in the public healthcare system in the Metropolitan Region were invited to participate. The response rate was 76.6% (n=82). Participant's average age was 40.4 +/- 12 years, and 80% were women. Among the professionals, 45.1% were physicians, 34.1% nurses and 20.7% psychologists. A 98.8% of participants agree/strongly agree -19.8% and 79% respectively- that it is convenient for people to plan and write their wishes about end-of-life care. The term Advance Directives has been heard by 87% of respondents. Regarding knowledge, 64.6% of the participants answered correctly less than 4 over 6 questions, and 70.8% responded correctly to the most appropriate definition of Advance Directives. The high recognition of the term Advance Directives contrasts with a relatively low level of knowledge about specific and legislative elements of this issue. These results demonstrate a positive attitude of the participants towards end-of-life care planning.