Exposure to a Loved One’s Death and Advance Care Planning: Moderating Effects of Age

Abstract

Background: Despite documented benefits of Advance Care Planning (ACP), it is still under-utilized in the U.S. Our study aimed to examine whether experiencing a loved one’s death is associated with one’s own ACP behavior among adults in the U.S. and the potential moderating effect of age. Method: Using a nationwide cross-sectional survey design with probability sampling weights, our study included 1006 adults in the U.S. who participated in and completed the Survey on Aging and End-of-Life Medical Care. Three binary logistic regression models were established to investigate the relationship between death exposure and different aspects of ACP (i.e., informal conversations with family members and doctors and formal advance directives completion). The moderation analysis was subsequently conducted to examine moderating effects of age. Results: The exposure to a loved one’s death was significantly associated with higher odds of having conversations with family about end-of-life medical care preferences among the 3 indicators of ACP ( OR = 2.03, P < .001). Age significantly moderated the association between death exposure and ACP conversations with doctors ( OR = .98, P = .017). The facilitation effect of death exposure on informal ACP engagement in discussing end-of-life medical wishes with doctors is stronger among younger adults than older adults. Conclusions: Exploring an individual’s previous experience with a loved one’s death might be an effective way to broach the concept of ACP among adults of all ages. This strategy may be particularly useful in facilitating discussions of end-of-life medical wishes with doctors among younger adults than older adults.