Variation in timing of decisions to withdraw life-sustaining treatment in adult ICU patients from three centres in different geographies: Do clinical factors explain the difference?

William H Seligman N SadovnikoffI A JoubertP HuttonM Flint Andrew M CourtwrightK B KrishnamurthyA M JosephS McKechnie

Published in: The Southern African journal of critical care : the official journal of the Critical Care Society (2020)

This study has identified variation in the timing of decisions to withdraw life-sustaining treatment in adult ICUs in three centres in three different healthcare systems. Although differences in clinical decision-making likely explain some of the variation, non-clinical factors (relating to the society in which the clinicians live and work) may also play a part.

Keyphrases

healthcare
decision making
newly diagnosed
end stage renal disease
palliative care
combination therapy
young adults
extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
acute respiratory distress syndrome