Perceptions of Reducing Tube Feeding for Persons with Advanced Dementia among Various Professions in a Teaching Hospital.

BACKGROUND

Even though no evidence suggests tube feeding is beneficial for individuals with advanced dementia, many are still tube fed.

OBJECTIVE

To assess perceptions of hospital staff regarding reducing tube feeding (RTF) of patients with advanced dementia.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional survey.

SETTING

A regional teaching hospital in Taipei, Taiwan.

SUBJECTS

Hospital staff (n = 624), including physicians, nurses, dieticians, paramedical personnel, social workers, volunteers, attendants, and administrators.

MEASUREMENTS

Anonymous questionnaires.

RESULTS

The overall awareness of RTF for advanced dementia patients averaged 10.2 ± 3.74 points (maximum, 19 points) among all respondents. Among the different hospital professions, dieticians scored the highest, whereas nurses and attendants/volunteers had relatively low scores. Over half of respondents (57%) agreed tube feeding is the best choice for advanced dementia with dysphagia. Physicians of different specialties had significantly different responses toward RTF with regard to the belief that tube feeding reduces the risk of aspiration pneumonia, referring patients who refuse tube feeding to other health care team members, and the belief that family members would be able to accept the patient's death along with insufficient food/fluid intake. Only 35.1% of respondents believed they were able to implement comfort feeding.

CONCLUSIONS

The present survey shows a persistent knowledge gap among various health care professions regarding tube feeding of patients with advanced dementia. Also, there is insufficient awareness about this subject, indicating that promotion of comfort feeding by enhanced training and communication within medical teams is essential to achieving better person-centered care and preventing unnecessary suffering.