Are physicians' recommendations to limit life support beneficial or burdensome? Bringing empirical data to the debate.

ABSTRACT:

Rationale

Although there is a growing belief that physicians should routinely provide a recommendation to surrogates during deliberations about withdrawing life support, there is a paucity of empirical data on surrogates' perspectives on this topic.

Objectives

To understand the attitudes of surrogate decision-makers toward receiving a physician's recommendation during deliberations about whether to limit life support for an incapacitated patient.

Methods

We conducted a prospective, mixed methods study among 169 surrogate decision-makers for critically ill patients. Surrogates sequentially viewed two videos of simulated physician-surrogate discussions about whether to limit life support, which varied only by whether the physician gave a recommendation.

Measurements

SUBMITTER: White DB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2731809 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature