A case-control study of end-of-life treatment preferences and costs following advance care planning for adults with end stage kidney disease.

AIM: To examine the efficacy of advance care planning (ACP) to improve the likelihood that end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) patient's preferences will be known and adhered to at end-of-life.

METHODS: A case-control study of a nurse-led ACP program in adults with ESKD from a major tertiary hospital. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients whose preferences were known (by substitute decision maker and/or clinicians) and adhered to by their treating doctors. Secondary measures were health system resource use and costs ($AUD) for a nurse-led ACP intervention in the last 12-months of life.

RESULTS: In total, 57 cases (38 men, mean age 73.8 years) and 57 historical controls (38 men, mean age 74.0 years) were included. Cases (38/57, 67%) were significantly more likely than controls (15/57, 26%) to have their preferences known and adhered to by their treating doctor at end-of-life (p<0.001). Cases (33/40, 83%) were also significantly more likely to withdraw from dialysis in accordance with their preferences than controls (11/33, 33%) (p<0.001). For cases, the average hospital costs in the last 12 months of life was AUD $99,077 (SD = $71,002) per patient. The total cost of the ACP program in 2010/11 was AUD $26,821.

CONCLUSION: ACP was associated with improvements in end-of-life care preferences known and adhered to for people with ESKD.