Change in Advance Care Plans of Nursing Home Residents With Dementia and Pneumonia: Secondary Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trial Data

Objectives To explore changes in advance care plans of nursing home residents with dementia following pneumonia, and factors associated with changes. Second, to explore factors associated with the person perceived by elderly care physicians as most influential in advance treatment decision making. Design Secondary analysis of physician-reported PneuMonitor trial data. Setting and Participants The PneuMonitor trial took place between January 2012 and May 2015 in 32 nursing homes across the Netherlands; it involved 429 residents with dementia who developed pneumonia. Methods We compared advance care plans before and after the first pneumonia episode. Generalized logistic linear mixed models were used to explore associations of advance care plan changes with the person most influential in decision making, with demographics and indicators of disease progression. Exploratory analyses assessed associations with the person most influential in decision making. Results For >90% of the residents, advance care plans had been established before the pneumonia. After pneumonia, treatment goals were revised in 15.9% of residents; 72% of all changes entailed refinements of goals. Significant associations with treatment goal changes were not found. Treatment plans changed in 20.0% of residents. Changes in treatment decisions were more likely for residents who were more severely ill (odds ratio 1.5, 95% CI 1.2-1.9) and those estimated to live <3 months (odds ratio 3.3, 95% CI 1.9-5.8). Physicians reported that a family member was often (47.4%) most influential in decision making. Who is most influential was associated with the resident’s dementia severity. Conclusions and Implications Overall, changes in advance care plans after pneumonia diagnosis were small, suggesting stability of most preferences or limited dynamics in the advance care planning process. Advance care planning involving family is common for nursing home residents with dementia, but advance care planning with persons with dementia themselves is rare and requires more attention.