Table 2

Codes on wish fulfilment dependent on patients’ wishes, the clinical situation and data on wish fulfilment by different information sources

Patients’ wish	Was the patient in the situation?	Wish fulfilment (as stated by the patient)	Wish fulfilment (as stated by the surrogate)	Wish fulfilment (medical records)	Wish fulfilment (as stated by the physician)	Wish actually fulfilled?
Yes/no/don’t know/leave decision	No	–	–	–	–	Not applicable
Yes/no	Yes	Yes	–	–	–	Yes
Yes/no	Yes	Missing	Yes	–	–	Yes
Yes/no	Yes	Missing	Missing	Yes	–	Yes
Yes/no	Yes	Mising	Missing	Missing	Yes	Yes
Missing	Yes	Missing	Yes	–	–	Yes
Missing	Yes	Missing	Missing	Yes	–	Yes
Missing	Yes	Missing	Missing	Missing	Yes	Yes
Leave decision	Yes	–	Yes	–	–	Yes
Leave decision	Yes	–	Missing	–	Yes	Yes
Yes/no	Yes	No	–	–	–	No
Yes/no	Yes	Missing	No	–	–	No
Yes/no	Yes	Missing	Missing	No	–	No
Yes/no	Yes	Missing	Missing	Missing	No	No
Missing	Yes	Missing	No	–	-–	No
Missing	Yes	Missing	Missing	No	–	No
Missing	Yes	Missing	Missing	Missing	No	No
Leave decision	Yes	–	No	–	–	No
Leave decision	Yes	–	Missing	–	No	No
Leave decision	Yes	–	Missing	Yes	Missing	Unclear
Leave decision	Yes	–	Missing	No	Missing	Unclear
Don’t know	Yes	–	–	–	–	Unclear

Patients’ wish (yes/no): patients’ wish to be either resuscitated or intubated or dialysed, or tube fed or getting antibiotics or intravenous fluids or being sedated. The patient could also answer ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I leave the decision to surrogate or physician'.
Was the patient in the situation: determines whether the patient was resuscitated or intubated or dialysed, or tube fed or getting antibiotics or intravenous fluids or being sedated. If the patient was never in the situation, the wish fulfilment was recorded as not applicable.
Wish fulfilment (as stated by the patient): the documented wish fulfilment as stated by the patients had the highest priority for determining whether their wishes were fulfilled.
Wish fulfilment (as stated by the surrogate): if the wish of the patient was missing or if the patient left the decision to the surrogate, the statement of the surrogate had the highest priority for determining the patient’s wish fulfilment.
Wish fulfilment (medical records): if the patient’s and surrogate’s wish documentation was missing, the wish fulfilment was determined according to what was stated in the medical records. This could only be determined if the patient was in the situation and if the documentation was available.
Wish fulfilment (as stated by the physician): the wish fulfilment of the patient was determined according to the statement of the physician only in the situation where the wish was not stated by the patient or surrogate, and was not documented in the medical records. However, if the patient left the decision to the surrogate or physician, and the surrogate’s decision was missing, the physician’s statement had priority over what was documented in the medical records.
The wish regarding last place of care: this wish was determined only if the patient was dead at the moment when wish fulfilment was assessed.
The ‘–’ means that the statement was considered irrelevant to the determination of wish fulfilment.