How Well Do Current Measures Assess the Impact of Advance Care Planning on Concordance Between Patient Preferences for End-of-Life Care and the Care Received: A Methodological Review

Methodological variations and weaknesses compromise the validity of study results, and prevent meaningful comparisons between studies or synthesis of the results. Effectively evaluating whether ACP interventions enhance a patient's capacity to receive the care they want requires harmonization of research. This demands standardization of methods across studies, validating of instruments, and consensus based on a consistent conceptual framework regarding what constitutes a meaningful outcome measure.