THE HIV-SPECIFIC ADVANCE DIRECTIVE

OBJECTIVE:To determine whether persons living with HIV find a disease- specific advance directive more acceptable than a generic directive. D ESIGN: Randomized clinical trial. SETTING: HIV consumer organization a nd hospital-based HIV clinic. PARTICIPANTS: Volunteer sample of person s with HIV. INTERVENTIONS:The disease-specific HIV Living Will, the ge neric Centre for Bioethics Living Will, or both. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Of 101 participants who received both advance directives, 78 (77.2%) preferred the disease-specific HIV Living Will and 23 (22.8%) preferred the generic Centre for Bioethics Living Will (p < .001). Mo st participants who preferred the HIV Living Will did so because it wa s more specific or relevant to their situation. CONCLUSIONS: Persons L iving with HIV prefer a disease-specific to a generic advance directiv e. They should be offered a disease-specific advance directive. Our fi ndings should also encourage investigators to develop and evaluate dis ease-specific advance directives in other clinical settings.