Correlations between values about the use of life-supporting treatments
| Patients | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |
| a | 1.00 | 0.09 | 0.14 | 0.25 | 0.21 | 0.19 | 0.02 | −0.01 |
| b | 1.00 | 0.44 | −0.06 | 0.05 | 0.02 | 0.22 | 0.37 | |
| c | 1.00 | −0.07 | 0.08 | −0.02 | 0.35 | 0.25 | ||
| d | 1.00 | 0.38 | 0.25 | 0.04 | −0.06 | |||
| e | 1.00 | 0.11 | 0.07 | 0.08 | ||||
| f | 1.00 | −0.04 | 0.13 | |||||
| g | 1.00 | 0.25 | ||||||
| h | 1.00 | |||||||
| Family members | ||||||||
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |
| a | 1.00 | 0.12 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.17 | −0.07 | 0.11 | 0.06 |
| b | 1.00 | 0.60 | 0.03 | −0.06 | −0.15 | 0.28 | 0.15 | |
| c | 1.00 | 0.02 | 0.04 | −0.06 | 0.47 | 0.25 | ||
| d | 1.00 | 0.47 | 0.35 | −0.13 | 0.05 | |||
| e | 1.00 | 0.13 | 0.11 | 0.08 | ||||
| f | 1.00 | −0.14 | 0.01 | |||||
| g | 1.00 | 0.20 | ||||||
| h | 1.00 | |||||||
How important is it that:
a. I be comfortable and suffer as little as possible? (shorten)
b. I have more time with my family? (prolong)
c. I live as long as possible? (prolong)
d. I avoid being attached to machines and tubes? (shorten)
e. Death is not prolonged? (shorten)
f. A belief that nature should be allowed to take its course? (shorten)
g. The belief that life should be preserved? (prolong)
h. I respect the wishes of other family members regarding my care? (neutral)
All correlations that are given in bold are statistically significant (p<0.05)
Value statements that are associated with prolongation or shortening of life are indicated in brackets (prolong or shorten)
A priori, correlations underlined were expected to be strongly positive and correlations in italics were expected to be strongly negative.