Advance Directives: Do They Provide Direction?

Abstract

To Editor.— The study by Davidson et al 1 purports to be the first attempt to evaluate physicians' attitudes and experiences with advance I published such an empirical study in Vermont Law Review more than 6 months ago 2 ; my results were substantially different. Determining physicians' experiences and attitudes is important. Physicians substantially control implementation of directives. However, a mailed questionnaire is not optimal way to elicit information about whether or how directives have changed care patients received. A questionnaire lends itself to wide distribution and creates illusion of statistical precision. However, it often suggests rather than elicits answers and misses nuances of responses. (Notice, for example, three aberrant responses discussed on pages 2418 and 2419 in article by Davidson et al.) Davidson et al mailed questionnaires to 1293 physicians. Eighty-two physicians were excluded and 790 responded (65.2%).