Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Preferences of People Receiving Dialysis.

Importance Whether the cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) preferences of patients receiving dialysis align with their values and other aspects of end-of-life care is not known. Objective To describe the CPR preferences of patients receiving dialysis and how these preferences are associated with their responses to questions about other aspects of end-of-life care. Design, Setting, and Participants Cross-sectional survey study of a consecutive sample of patients receiving dialysis at 31 nonprofit dialysis facilities in 2 US metropolitan areas (Seattle, Washington, and Nashville, Tennessee) between April 22, 2015, and October 2, 2018. Analyses for this article were conducted between December 2018 and April 2020. Exposures Participants were asked to respond to the question “If you had to decide right now, would you want CPR if your heart were to stop beating?” Those who indicated they would probably or definitely want CPR were categorized as preferring CPR. Main Outcomes and Measures This study examined the association between preference for CPR and other treatment preferences, engagement in advance care planning, values, desired place of death, expectations about prognosis, symptoms, and palliative care needs. Results Of the 1434 individuals invited to complete the survey, 1009 agreed to participate, and 876 were included in the analytic cohort (61.1%). The final cohort had a mean (SD) age of 62.6 (14.0) years; 492 (56.2%) were men, and 528 (60.3%) were White individuals. Among 738 of 876 participants (84.2%) who indicated that they would definitely or probably want CPR (CPR group), 555 (75.2%) wanted mechanical ventilation vs 13 of 138 (9.4%) of those who did not want CPR (do not resuscitate [DNR] group) (P  Conclusions and Relevance The CPR preferences of patients receiving dialysis were associated with some, but not all, other aspects of end-of-life care. How participants responded to questions about these other aspects of end-of-life care were not always aligned with their CPR preference. More work is needed to integrate discussions about code status with bigger picture conversations about patients’ values, goals, and preferences for end-of-life care.