Advance Directives: Knowledge and Preferences of Health Users

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the awareness of the population in a Brazilian municipality in the Midwest region of Santa Catarina regarding Advance Healthcare Directives, whether it is appropriate to provide them to the population and preferences concerning treatment in cases of irreversible illnesses ten years after the approval of Resolution CFM 1995/12, which regulated this topic in the context of Medical Ethics. This was a cross-sectional study involving patients using the Public Health System of a municipality. It involved presenting two models of Advance Healthcare Directives, followed by a questionnaire for completion. A total of 303 participants were interviewed, starting with the collection of sociodemographic data. Most of the interviewees were women aged 18 to 29, with a high school education, single, and with a family income of up to R$ 5,000.00. Among the participants, 64.98% had never heard of Advance Healthcare Directives, and 90.76% were unaware of directive completion models. After the key concepts were explained, 93.07% considered the drafting of the document to be very important, 95.05% deemed its availability to healthcare users as very important, and 98.35% viewed the existence of a law to regulate them as very important. In the context of an irreversible illness, most interviewees would opt for limited treatment. Following their understanding of its significance, the widespread acceptance of directives among research participants highlights the need for specific legislation to regulate this mechanism in Brazil, thereby facilitating its availability to healthcare users interested in expressing their preferences regarding their healthcare in advance.