A Tool to Assess Patient and Surrogate Knowledge About the POLST (Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment) Program

ContextIt is especially important that patients are well informed when making high-stakes, preference-sensitive decisions like those on the Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) form. However, there is currently no way to easily evaluate whether patients understand key concepts when making these important decisions.ObjectivesTo develop a POLST knowledge survey.MethodsExpert (n = 62) ratings of key POLST facts were used to select items for a POLST knowledge survey. The survey was administered to nursing facility residents (n = 97) and surrogate decision-makers (n = 112). A subset (n = 135) were re-administered the survey after a standardized advance care planning discussion to assess the scale's responsiveness to change.ResultsThe 19-item survey demonstrated adequate reliability (α = 0.72.). Residents' scores (x = 11.4, standard deviation 3.3) were significantly lower than surrogate scores (x = 14.7, standard deviation 2.5) (P < 0.001). Scores for both groups increased significantly after administration of a standardized advance care planning discussion (P < 0.001). Although being a surrogate, age, race, education, cognitive functioning, and health literacy were significantly associated with higher POLST Knowledge Survey scores in univariate analyses, only being a surrogate (P < 0.001) and being white (P = 0.028) remained significantly associated with higher scores in multivariate analyses.ConclusionThe 19-item POLST Knowledge Survey demonstrated adequate reliability and responsiveness to change. Findings suggest the survey could be used to identify knowledge deficits and provide targeted education to ensure adequate understanding of key clinical decisions when completing POLST.     

Recurrent Oral and Genital Ulcers in an Infant: Neonatal Presentation of Pediatric Behçet Disease

Behçet disease is a complex, multisystem disease characterized by recurrent oral and genital ulcerations. It rarely occurs in infants or children. Neonatal Behçet disease has been reported in infants whose ulcers resolve at or before 9 weeks of age. Few cases of neonatal Behçet disease persisting into childhood have previously been reported. We report the case of a 1‐month‐old infant who presented with severe recurrent genital ulcerations and at 6 months developed recurrent oral ulcerations. Her orogenital ulcerations continue to recur. Human leukocyte antigen testing revealed HLA‐B51 and B44 positivity. This is a case of pediatric Behçet disease in the neonatal period. Behçet disease should be considered in the differential diagnosis of recurrent genital and oral ulcerations in infants and children.