© 2002 by the American Geriatrics Society 0002-8614/02/$15.00 The Effect of Do-Not-Resuscitate Orders on Physician Decision-Making

The effect of do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders on physi-cians ’ decisions to provide life-prolonging treatments other than cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for pa-tients near the end of life was explored using a cross-sec-tional mailed survey. Each survey presented three patient scenarios followed by 10 treatment decisions. Participants were residents and attending physicians who were ran-domly assigned surveys in which all patient scenarios in-cluded or did not include a DNR order. Response to three case scenarios when a DNR order was present or absent were measured. Response from 241 of 463 physicians (52%) was received. Physicians agreed or strongly agreed to initiate fewer interventions when a DNR order was present versus absent (4.2 vs 5.0 (