biostudies-literatureUnknown9(2)Batten JN<h4>Importance</h4>Professional society policy statements recommend that clinicians limit (ie, withhold or withdraw) potentially nonbeneficial life-prolonging interventions by (1) achieving a shared decision with patients or surrogates or (2) initiating an institutional process to address disagreement with patients or surrogates. However, in the context of a health care system with a default tendency toward life prolongation, it is unclear whether clinicians rely entirely on these recommended approaches or resort to alternate approaches.<h4>Objective</h4>To characterize the range of decision-making approaches clinicians report using to limit potentially nonbeneficial life-prolonging interventions.<h4>Design, setting, and participants</h4>This qualitative study was conducted at 3 tertiary aJAMA network opene2560260https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC12924098biostudies-literatureDecision-Making Approaches Used to Limit Potentially Nonbeneficial Life-Prolonging Interventions.PMC12924098Nichol AABatten JNDzeng EWChernicoff HOBlythe JAAxelrod JKKruser JMWeiss Goitiandia SPereira LMfalseDecision-Making Approaches Used to Limit Potentially Nonbeneficial Life-Prolonging Interventions.<h4>Importance</h4>Professional society policy statements recommend that clinicians limit (ie, withhold or withdraw) potentially nonbeneficial life-prolonging interventions by (1) achieving a shared decision with patients or surrogates or (2) initiating an institutional process to address disagreement with patients or surrogates. However, in the context of a health care system with a default tendency toward life prolongation, it is unclear whether clinicians rely entirely on these recommended approaches or resort to alternate approaches.<h4>Objective</h4>To characterize the range of decision-making approaches clinicians report using to limit potentially nonbeneficial life-prolonging interventions.<h4>Design, setting, and participants</h4>This qualitative study was conducted at 3 tertiary a2026-01-01T00:00:00Z2026 Feb2026-07-16T14:53:21.346Z2026-07-09T11:01:05.1ZS-EPMC129240984171903910.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.60260