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Effects of Religiosity on Patients' Perceptions of Do-Not-Resuscitate Status

Received Nov. 27, 2002; revision received Aug. 1, 2003; accepted Aug. 15, 2003. From New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York City; and the Consultation-Liaison Service, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia Presbyterian Campus of the New York-Presbyterian Hospital. Address reprint requests to Dr. Muskin, Consultation-Liaison Service, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia Presbyterian Campus of the New York-Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY; prm1{at}columbia.edu (e-mail).
Supported by the K.J. Lee Family Fellowship of the Richard and Hilda Rosenthal Center for Alternative/Complementary Medicine.
The authors thank Robert E. Pollack, Ph.D., and Laura Roberts, M.D., for their comments on this paper.

Forty-eight oncology inpatients participated in a survey designed to characterize their understanding of and beliefs about do-not-resuscitate (DNR) decisions and to identify dimensions of religiosity associated with moral beliefs about DNR decisions. Seventy-five percent of the patients believed they understood the meaning of "DNR," but only 32% were able to provide an accurate definition. Seventeen percent believed that DNR decisions are morally wrong, and 23% believed that they are equivalent to suicide. Those who lacked an accurate understanding of DNR status were significantly more likely to perceive them as morally wrong. Gender, but not religious denomination, was significantly related to patients' attitudes about the morality of DNR decisions. The belief that DNR decisions are morally wrong was predicted by certain religious practices, including near-daily meditation, near-daily thinking about God, and the current practice of meditation, and by endorsement of the statement, "My faith sometimes restricts my action."

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