A Questionnaire Survey of University Hospital Attenders

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: This study is to know the hospital attenders' knowledge and attitude toward hospice for improving hospice service provided in the future. METHODS: 400 people who registered for medical treatment at the Chung Shan medical university hospital were enrolled. A self-administered questionnaire was designed including three domains as follows: 1. the knowledge of hospice, 2. the attitude toward hospice, and 3. the basic data. RESULTS: The results showed 69.4% of respondents had heard about hospice care and most of them heard it from the mass media. Only 34.2% and 31.1% of respondents knew that hospice care for the terminal motor neuron disease and terminal AIDS patients, respectively. 94.4% of respondents agreed that hospice care should cover more terminal patients other than cancer patients only. 86.2% of respondents agreed that physicians should do the informed consent to the terminal cancer patients. 52.0 % of respondents agreed that the family had the right to prohibit the physicians from doing the informed consents to the patients. Those who had heard about hospice and those who had higher academic degree had more positive attitude toward hospice. CONCLUSIONS: 1. Informed consent is in conflict for the common people. 2. Those who had the higher academic degree had the more positive attitude. 3. Educational interventions to enhance knowledge concerning terminal care and hospice care may be needed. 4. The effort to change compulsory national education curricula and develop continuing education programs targeting many aspects of caring for the terminally ill patients, including the public using of the hospice care is suggested.