R. Kielstein, ATTITUDES OF NEPHROLOGISTS TOWARDS ADVANC ED DIRECTIVES - AN INTERNATIONAL STUDY, Nieren- und Hochdruckkrankheiten, 27(4), 1998, pp. 178-183
Attitudes of nephrologists in the US, Japan and the former East- and W
est-Germany towards advanced directives of their patients were reviewe
d. While advanced directives are nearly absent in Japan (0.07% of ESRD
-patients) and nephrologists prefer to discuss clinical decisions with
family members rather than with the patient, advanced directives in t
he US are legal instruments, widely executed (30% of ESRD-patients) an
d mostly authoritative in clinical decision making. In Germany, the pr
evalence of advanced directives is still low (0.3% of ESRD-patients);
physicians in the former East-Germany seem to be more inclined to hono
r advanced directives (78%) than their West-German colleagues (48%).