• Ayaka Sakamoto, Ryota Inokuchi, Masao Iwagami, Yu Sun, and Nanako Tamiya.
• Health Services Research and Development Center, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tenno-dai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8577, Japan.
• Am J Emerg Med. 2023 Jun 1; 68: 849184-91.

BackgroundAdvance care planning can help provide optimal medical care according to a patient's wishes as a part of patient-centered discussions on end-of-life care. This can prevent undesired transfers to emergency departments. However, the effects of advance care planning on emergency department visits and ambulance calls in various settings or specific conditions remain unclear.AimTo evaluate whether advanced care planning affected the frequency of emergency department visits and ambulance calls.DesignSystematic review. This study was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42022340109). We assessed risk of bias using RoB 2.0, ROBINS-I, and ROBINS-E.Data SourcesWe searched the PubMed, Cochrane CENTRAL, and EMBASE databases from their inception until September 22, 2022 for studies comparing patients with and without advanced care planning and reported the frequency of emergency department visits and ambulance calls as outcomes.ResultsEight studies were included. Regarding settings, two studies on patients in nursing homes showed that advanced care planning significantly reduced the frequency of emergency department visits and ambulance calls. However, two studies involving several medical care facilities reported inconclusive results. Regarding patient disease, a study on patients with depression or dementia showed that advanced care planning significantly reduced emergency department visits; in contrast, two studies on patients with severe respiratory diseases and serious illnesses showed no significant reduction. Seven studies showed a high risk of bias.ConclusionsAdvanced care planning may lead to reduced emergency department visits and ambulance calls among nursing home residents and patients with depression or dementia. Further research is warranted to identify the effectiveness of advanced care planning in specific settings and diseases.Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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