Content of the advance directives form of the pain and palliative care services in Colombia. Cross-sectional study

Abstract

Introduction: The scientific literature supports the limited effect of the Advance Directives Document (ADD) in clinical decision-making. There are implementation barriers that prevent the fulfillment its purpose. The content of the ADD has not been explored in Colombia.
 Objective: To describe the contents of the ADD used in the pain and palliative care services.
 Methods. Cross-sectional study. Based on the national legislation and the rights that may be included in an ADD as described in the scientific literature, a checklist was designed with 20 variables to assess the forms, collecting data on the legal validity criteria and the contents for specific clinical and ethical directives. A predefined scale was used to describe the overall content of the form.
 Results: A total of 24 forms around the country were analyzed; the most comprehensive document included 14 of the 20 variables evaluated. In accordance with the definition used, 70 % of the forms had a maximum of 10 variables and were classified as “low content”. Four forms were not formalized and only the forms formalized before the treating physician met the legal standard. 50 % of the forms included closed statements.
 Conclusions: The ADD forms exhibit a number of inadequacies in terms of the legal and clinical criteria for a high quality content, leading to difficulties for their applicability in the clinical setting. In Colombia, a standard form validated by the palliative care associations is required.