Primary Care Professionals' Self-Efficacy Surrounding Advance Care Planning and Its Link to Sociodemographics,...

Primary care (PC) professionals have been considered the most appropriate practitioners for leading Advance care planning (ACP) processes with advanced chronic patients.

To explore how PC doctors' and nurses' self-efficacy surrounding ACP is linked to their sociodemographic characteristics, background and perceptions of ACP practices.

A cross-sectional study was performed. Sociodemographics, background and perceptions about ACP in practice were collected using an online survey. The Advance Care Planning Self-Efficacy Spanish (ACP-SEs) scale was used for the self-efficacy measurement.

Bivariate, multivariate and backward stepwise logistic regression analyses were performed to identify variables independently related to a higher score on the ACP-SEs.

N = 465 participants, 70.04% doctors, 81.47% female. The participants had a mean age of 46.45 years and 66.16% had spent >15 years in their current practice. The logistic regression model showed that scoring ≤ 75 on the ACP-SEs was related to a higher score on feeling sufficiently trained, having participated in ACP processes, perceiving that ACP facilitates knowledge of preferences and values, and perceiving that ACP improves patients' quality of life.

Professionals with previous background and those who have a positive perception of ACP are more likely to feel able to carry out ACP processes with patients.