Has medical assistance in dying changed end-of-life care in the ICU? A qualitative survey of Canadian intensivists.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

Since 2016, Canada has permitted medical assistance in dying (MAID). Our aims were to understand how Canadian intensivists view MAID and the impact of MAID on end-of-life care in the ICU.

Material and methods

This was a descriptive qualitative study of responses from a 41-item questionnaire. We recruited intensivists and trainees from 11 pediatric ICU programs and 14 adult ICU programs across Canada between December 2019 and May 2020. Two qualitative researchers inductively coded responses and then conducted preliminary thematic analysis. Themes were subsequently refined through group discussion.

Results

We obtained 150 complete questionnaires (33% response rate), of which 50% were adult practitioners and 50% pediatric. We identified six main themes including:

SUBMITTER: Andersen SK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10015434 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature