Knowledge regarding advance care planning: A systematic review

Lack of knowledge is one of the main reasons for the low rates of completion of Advance Care Planning (ACP).

The purpose of this study was to systematically review the existing literature on knowledge regarding Advance Care Planning.

A systematic search of the literature was made in CINHAL, AgeLine, PubMed, PsyINFO and SocINDEX, from 1994 till May 2016.

We identified 37 articles that satisfied the inclusion criteria: 35 were quantitative, one was qualitative and one used mixed methods. Most of the studies (n=23) were conducted in the United States and participants in most of the studies (n=22) were professionals. A variety of aspects of ACP were examined, regarding subjective and objective knowledge. Seventeen studies found that participants knew some aspects of ACP, but didn't know others. Inconsistencies were found in the types of instruments and the number of items used to assess knowledge.

More effort should be invested in increasing knowledge regarding ACP among professionals and lay people. Developing validated tools to measure objective and subjective knowledge in both populations might be a first step in this direction.