The role of advance directives in end-of-life decisions in Austria: survey of intensive care physicians.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Currently, intensive care medicine strives to define a generally accepted way of dealing with end-of-life decisions, therapy limitation and therapy discontinuation.In 2006 a new advance directive legislation was enacted in Austria. Patients may now document their personal views regarding extension of treatment. The aim of this survey was to explore Austrian intensive care physicians' experiences with and their acceptance of the new advance directive legislation two years after enactment (2008).

Methods

Under the aegis of the OEGARI (Austrian Society of Anaesthesiology, Resuscitation and Intensive Care) an anonymised questionnaire was sent to the medical directors of all intensive care units in Austria. The questions focused on the physicians' experiences regarding

SUBMITTER: Schaden E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2976730 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature