Background: Tracheostomy is recommended for respiratory care center prolonged mechanical ventilation patients who cannot be liberated from the ventilator in the short term. However, most patients or their families oppose having this procedure. We applied [If my family is difficulty liberated from the ventilator, do he/she need to undergo tracheostomy?] tracheostomy shared decision making program for respiratory care center prolonged mechanical ventilation patients. The program is expected to enable patients to undergo tracheostomy, improving patients’ medical care and outcomes.
Methods: We apply tracheostomy shared decision making program to patients who were admitted to a respiratory care center. Data of patients in the respiratory care center who participated in tracheostomy shared decision making program were collected and analyzed. The survival of patients and the optimal decision marking of tracheostomy shared decision making program were tracked.
Results: A total of 57 patients participated in tracheostomy shared decision making program. Of these, 39 patients (68.4%) were men, and 18 (31.6%) were women. The mean age was 69.6 years. At the end of the study, 37 patients underwent tracheostomy (64.9%), and 20 patients maintained endotracheal tube intubation (35.1%). There was no significant difference in the factors of concern and the degree of concern about the methods of treatment in the two group patients. Patients or their families of the two groups have a good understanding of the two methods of treatment. The survival rate of patients undergoing tracheostomy was 86.5%, but only 86.5% of participants believed that they made an optimal decision based on the result of the tracheostomy shared decision making program. Conversely, the survival rate of patients who maintained endotracheal tube intubation was 40%, but the all of participants believed that they made an optimal decision based on the result of the tracheostomy shared decision making program. The overall 91.2% of participants made an optimal decision marking of the tracheostomy shared decision making program.
Conclusions: The clinical application of tracheostomy shared decision making program has achieved excellent results. Patients who underwent tracheostomy will have a longer survival time.