Browsing by Author "Cottingham, Ann"

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    Crucial Conversations for High-Risk Populations before Surgery: Advance Care Planning in a Preoperative Setting
    (Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., 2021-10-06) Patel, Roma; Torke, Alexia; Nation, Barb; Cottingham, Ann; Hur, Jennifer; Gruber, Rachel; Sinha, Shilpee; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Background: High-risk patients undergoing elective surgery are at risk for perioperative complications, including readmissions and death. Advance care planning (ACP) may allow for preparation for such events. Objectives: (1) To assess the completion rate of advance directives (ADs) and their association with one year readmissions and mortality (2) to examine clinical events for decedents. Design: This is an observational cohort study conducted through chart review. Setting/Subjects: Subjects were 400 patients undergoing preoperative evaluation for elective surgery at two hospitals in the United States. Measurements: The prevalence of ADs at the time of surgery and at one year, readmissions, and mortality at one year were determined. Results: Three-hundred ninety patients were included. In total, 102 (26.4%) patients were readmitted, yet did not complete an AD. Seventeen (4.4%) patients filed an AD during follow-up. Nineteen patients died and mortality rate was 4.9%. There was a significant association between completing an AD before death. Of the decedents, seven (37%) underwent resuscitation, but only four had ADs. Conclusions: Many high-risk surgical patients would benefit from ADs before clinical decline. Preoperative clinics present a missed opportunity to ensure ACP occurs before complications arise.
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    The Need for Patient-centered Education Among Patients Newly Diagnosed With a Pituitary Tumor
    (Endocrine Society, 2021-04-07) Donegan, Diane; Gowan, Tayler; Gruber, Rachel; Cottingham, Ann; Flanagan, Mindy; Erickson, Dana; Imperiale, Thomas F.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Objectives: Brain tumors, including pituitary adenomas (PA), cause anxiety and distress, with a high unmet need for information correlating with increased anxiety. Condition-specific education may alleviate anxiety. We explored patients' experience around the diagnosis of a PA and piloted a patient education intervention to address peridiagnostic anxiety in adults diagnosed with PA. Methods: Anxiety, patient satisfaction, patient knowledge, and need for information were measured prior to, immediately after, and 1 month following the appointment in this multimethods study. A phone interview to explore patient diagnostic and intervention experiences was analyzed using qualitative methods. Results: A total of 17 patients participated in the study; 15 completed the interview. The baseline need for information was high. Disease-specific anxiety decreased, and patient knowledge and satisfaction increased significantly after the initial visit. Interview analysis identified 3 main themes: (1) the importance of communication; (2) the need for information; and (3) the impact of the diagnosis on patient experience. Conclusions: For patients with newly diagnosed PA, the diagnostic experience was associated with high levels of anxiety. Patients expressed a need for information. Information delivery reduced anxiety and had a positive impact on patient satisfaction. Practice implications: The study findings suggest a need for a streamlined diagnostic process with readily accessible information.
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    Physicians in Postgraduate Training Characteristics and Support of Palliative Sedation for Existential Distress
    (Sage, 2017-09) Cripe, Larry D.; Perkins, Susan M.; Cottingham, Ann; Tong, Yan; Kozak, Mary Ann; Mehta, Rakesh; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Introduction: Palliative sedation for refractory existential distress (PS-ED) is ethically troubling but potentially critical to quality end-of-life (EOL) care. Physicians’ in postgraduate training support toward PS-ED is unknown nor is it known how empathy, hope, optimism, or intrinsic religious motivation (IRM) affect their support. These knowledge gaps hinder efforts to support physicians who struggle with patients’ EOL care preferences. Methods: One hundred thirty-four postgraduate physicians rated their support of PS for refractory physical pain (PS-PP) or PS-ED, ranked the importance of patient preferences in ethically challenging situations, and completed measures of empathy, hope, optimism, and IRM. Predictors of PS-ED and PS-PP support were examined using binary and multinomial logistic regression. Results: Only 22.7% of residents were very supportive of PS-ED, and 82.0% were very supportive of PS-PP. Support for PS-PP or PS-ED did not correlate with levels of empathy, hope, optimism, or IRM; however, for residents with lower IRM, greater optimism was associated with greater PS-ED support. In contrast, among residents with higher IRM, optimism was not associated with PS-ED support. Conclusions: Comparing current results to published surveys, a similar proportion of residents and practicing physicians support PS-ED and PS-PP. In contrast to practicing physicians, however, IRM does not directly influence residents’ supportiveness. The interaction between optimism and IRM suggests residents’ beliefs and characteristics are salient to their EOL decisions. End-of-life curricula should provide physicians opportunities to reflect on the personal and ethical factors that influence their support for PS-ED.