Views of elderly patients and their relatives on cardiopulmonary resuscitation

Abstract
We interviewed 100 alert patients (abbreviated mental test score at least 8 out of 10: mean age 80.4 years; 62 women) and their legal next of kin. All were interviewed individually in private by a doctor unknown to them. The main diagnoses were; angina (28), chest infection (22), heart failure (8), stroke (8), cancer (6), miscellaneous (28). The median length of stay was 22 days (range 0-89). Patients were aware of their diagnoses and were interviewed when the acute illness was over. No patient was imminently expected to die.