Religious Coping and Use of Intensive Life-Prolonging Care Near Death in Patients With Advanced Cancer

Abstract

CONTEXT: Patients frequently rely on religious faith to cope with cancer, but little is known about the associations between religious coping and the use of intensive life-prolonging care at the end of life. OBJECTIVE: To determine the way religious coping relates to the use of intensive life-prolonging end-of-life care among patients with advanced cancer. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A US multisite, prospective, longitudinal cohort of 345 patients with advanced cancer, who were enrolled between January 1, 2003, and August 31, 2007. The Brief RCOPE assessed positive religious coping. Baseline interviews assessed psychosocial and religious/spiritual measures, advance care planning, and end-of-life treatment preferences. Patients were followed up until death, a median of 122 days after baseline assessment. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Intensive life-prolonging care, defined as receipt of mechanical ventilation or resuscitation in the last week of life. Analyses were adjusted for demographic factors significantly associated with positive religious coping and any end-of-life outcome at P