Navigating Surgical Decisions in Patients with Dementia: Clinician Challenges and Insights

Highlight

• Clinicians encounter significant difficulty identifying dementia and assessing decision-making capacity in surgical patients due to inconsistent documentation and limited resources.
• Caregivers and nonsurgical clinicians play a crucial role in surgical decision-making, though mismatched expectations and caregiver burden complicate communication and planning.
• Clinician perceptions that dementia adversely affects surgical outcomes are widespread but seldom grounded in explicit evidence or guidelines.
• Improved EHR interoperability, routine caregiver inclusion, and integration of dementia specialists can enhance surgical decision-making for patients living with dementia (PLWD).

Study Background