Iranian Journal of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine

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Decision making by a surrogate on behalf of incompetent patients is based on the ethical principle of "respect for autonomy". The increase in advanced health services has lead to more instances of decision making for incompetent patients receiving such services, and the treatment team usually asks a family member to serve for this purpose without being aware of the patient's preference. This study was conducted to assess patients' wishes and preferences regarding surrogate decision makers and determinants of such preferences.The study was cross-sectional, and samples were selected randomly from patients presenting at Farabi Eye Hospital clinics who were 18 years of age or older. Questionnaires were completed through interviews. Two hundred patients between 18 and 83 years old were interviewed. About 52% (n=105) were men, and 73% (n=77) were married. Among the married, the spouse was chosen as the surrogate decision maker in only 51% of cases. Among singles, boys preferred their father in 36% (n=9) of cases, while girls chose their father in 5.6% (n=1) of cases and the most frequent choice was other unmentioned people (33.3%, n=6). Most patients (93.5%) wished to be asked about their surrogate decision maker upon admission.Results of this study demonstrated that the people we usually consult for decisions concerning patient treatment are significantly different from patients' preferred surrogate decision makers. We suggest leaving the choice of surrogate decision maker to the patient while they are conscious.

Keywords: surrogate decision maker, autonomy, competence, custodian

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