Decisions regarding forgoing life-sustaining treatments

Psychosocial Factors Associated With Thoughts Regarding Life-Sustaining Treatment for Oneself and Family Members

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to investigate the thoughts of the general population regarding life-sustaining treatment for both oneself and family members and to assess the factors associated with those thoughts.

METHODS

A total of 1,500 individuals participated in this study by completing a questionnaire consisting of self-reporting items with some instructions, basic demographic information, thoughts on life-sustaining treatment, and psychosocial scales. The disease status was calculated using the Charlson Comorbidity Index. The psychosocial scales included the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support.

RESULTS

The majority of participants did not want to receive life-sustaining treatment for both themselves and their families. However, more people wanted life-sustaining treatment for their family members (35.9%) than for themselves (21.6%). Among the basic demographic characteristics, there were significant differences in age, sex, marital status, living arrangements, occupational status, religion, and disease status. Regarding the psychosocial scales, there were significant differences in the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores between the group that preferred life-sustaining treatment for family members and the group that did not.

CONCLUSION

The findings suggest that life-sustaining treatment decisions for oneself and for one's family members can be different. We recommend a more clear expression of one's preferences regarding the last moments of one's life, including advance directives.

Medicine in older age-perception and assessment of ageing processes by older people and medical and nursing professionals: study protocol for a qualitative focus group design (FOR TiMed_Life)

BACKGROUND

This study is conducted by a subproject of the DFG research group "Medicine, Time and the Good Life" FOR 5022 (FOR TiMed_Life) and investigates the care preferences of individuals of advanced age and the care priorities of medical and nursing professionals in times of increasing medical options and more complex decision-making processes, especially for elderly patients. We assume that the preference for or rejection of medical treatment is shaped by individual and social age patterns and by the awareness of the finiteness of life. Just like older people themselves, professionals are also influenced by societal images of age(ing) and associated notions of age-appropriate health. These concepts are subject to constant change, which means that what was considered to be a 'normal' symptom of older age 100 years ago is now treated medically as a disease. The aim of the study is to identify the underlying perceptions of ageing and their influence on medical decisions.

METHODS

By means of semi-structured focus group discussions and supplementary individual interviews with older people and medical and nursing professionals, the subproject investigates the perception of ageing processes and the resulting care preferences and priorities of these three groups. The evaluation of the interview material is carried out in two stages: First, the recorded group discussions are pre-structured using knowledge mapping. Based on the mapping results, the interview passages are selected, transcribed, and analysed in detail based on qualitative content analysis.

DISCUSSION

Because the nature of the research question is exploratory, qualitative methods provide a suitable approach. The mapping technique provides early initial results that are used by the other subprojects. Within the research group, the results of the interviews provide an empirical basis for ethical discourses on the influence of medicine on ideas of a good life, and in particular, on successful ageing.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

German Clinical Trials Register: DRKS00027076, 05/11/2021.

Impact of the Coronavirus Disease Pandemic on Patients with Head Injuries in South Korea

Objective

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is affecting the characteristics of patients with head injuries. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on patients with head injuries at a regional emergency medical center in South Korea.

Methods

From April 2019 to November 2020, 350 patients with head injuries were admitted to our hospital. The study period was divided into the pre-COVID-19 (n=169) and COVID-19 (n=181) eras (10 months each). Patients with severe head injuries requiring surgery (n=74) were categorized into those who underwent surgery (n=41) and those who refused surgery (n=33).

Results

Head injuries in pediatric patients (<3 years) were more frequent in the COVID-19 era than in the pre-COVID-19 era (8.8% vs. 3.6%, p=0.048). More patients refused surgery in the COVID-19 era than in the pre-COVID-19 era (57.9% vs. 30.6%, p=0.021). Refusal of surgery was associated with old age (67.7±14.5 vs. 52.4±19.1, p<0.001), marital status (married, 84.8% vs. 61.0%, p=0.037), unemployment (42.4% vs. 68.3%, p=0.034), COVID-19 era (66.7% vs. 39.0%, p=0.021), and lower Glasgow coma scale scores (6.12±3.08 vs. 10.6±3.80, p<0.001). Multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that refusal of surgery was independently associated with old age (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 1.084; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.030–1.140; p=0.002), COVID-19 era (adjusted OR, 6.869; 95% CI, 1.624–29.054; p=0.009), and lower Glasgow coma scale scores (adjusted OR, 0.694; 95% CI, 0.568–0.848; p<0.001).

Conclusion

We observed an increased prevalence of head injuries in pediatric patients (<3 years) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, among patients with severe head injuries requiring surgery, more patients refused to undergo surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Factors associated with surrogate families’ life-sustaining treatment preferences for patients at home or in a geriatric health service facility: A cross-sectional study

Objective

Recently, end-of-life preference in palliative care has been gaining attention in Japan. The Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare established the Japanese basic policy in November 2018. Patients’ decision-making is recommended; however, patients with dementia or other disorders cannot make such decisions by themselves. Thus, healthcare providers may contact surrogates and consider their backgrounds for better decision-making. Hence, the preferences of home caregivers’ and geriatric health service facility (GHSF) residents’ families on patient life-sustaining treatment (LST) were investigated.

Method

This cross-sectional study involved home caregivers’ and GHSF residents’ families in Japan. We distributed 925 self-reported questionnaires comprising items, such as the number of people living together, care duration, comprehension of doctor's explanations, the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)-9 and Short Form (SF)-8, and families’ LST preference for patients.

Results

In all, 619 valid responses were obtained [242 men and 377 women (309 in the HOME Caregivers Group, response rate = 61.1%; 310 in the GHSF Group, response rate = 74.0%)]. LST preference was significantly associated with sex, the number of people living together, care duration, and comprehension of doctors’ explanations in the HOME Caregivers Group but was not significantly associated with the GHSF Group. Furthermore, PHQ-9/SF-8 scores were not significantly associated with LST preference.

Significance of results

There were many differences in opinions about LST preference between home caregivers’ and GHSF residents’ families. The results suggested that the burden of nursing care was greater and harder in home caregiver families, and these factors may be related to the LST preference for a patient.

Characterising end-of-life decision-making of life-sustaining treatment among Japanese nurses

BACKGROUND

Often, nurses are closer to end-of-life (EOL) patients than other medical professionals, due to the time they spend with them at their bedside, which leads them to understand patients' care goals.

AIMS

To investigate the importance of EOL preferences by examining nurses' EOL decision-making regarding life-sustaining treatment (LST).

METHODS

In this cross-sectional study, 559 self-reported questionnaires of Japanese nurses were examined. Marital status, age and decision-making regarding LST for themselves were investigated.

FINDINGS

Unmarried participants from all age groups had a higher percentage of 'no preference for LST' than married groups. Differences between the percentages were higher in the 20s age group. Married participants increasingly preferred to receive no LST as their age increased, unlike single participants.

CONCLUSION

Marital status influences Japanese nurses' EOL decision-making regarding LST. Therefore, it is necessary to consider a patient's marital status to facilitate better decision-making.

[Ethics of resuscitation and end of life decisions]

These European Resuscitation Council Ethics guidelines provide evidence-based recommendations for the ethical, routine practice of resuscitation and end-of-life care of adults and children. The guideline primarily focus on major ethical practice interventions (i.e. advance directives, advance care planning, and shared decision making), decision making regarding resuscitation, education, and research. These areas are tightly related to the application of the principles of bioethics in the practice of resuscitation and end-of-life care.

European Resuscitation Council Guidelines 2021: Ethics of resuscitation and end of life decisions

These European Resuscitation Council Ethics guidelines provide evidence-based recommendations for the ethical, routine practice of resuscitation and end-of-life care of adults and children. The guideline primarily focus on major ethical practice interventions (i.e. advance directives, advance care planning, and shared decision making), decision making regarding resuscitation, education, and research. These areas are tightly related to the application of the principles of bioethics in the practice of resuscitation and end-of-life care.

Going beyond "bad news": A surgical case report and systematic review of the literature surrounding futile care

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There is a paucity of literature surrounding futile care.

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There is no consensus definition of “futile care”.

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A conversation is needed to discuss training of surgeons to manage cases of futile care.

Introduction

Surgeons frequently deliver “bad news” to patients, but do they know how to address situations where further surgery is considered futile? Is there a clear definition of futile care in the literature? This paper explores these questions and seeks to start a conversation about how we can train future surgeons to deliver news of futile care.

Presentation of case

This paper describes how one surgical team handled a difficult case of futile care and provides an interview from the perspective of a surgical resident.

Discussion

The case report gives one example of how the news of futile care was delivered and how appropriate steps were taken to provide continued management of the patient and support to the family. A systematic review of the literature surrounding futile care reveals no consensus on how to define futile care within the medical community.

Conclusion

There is a paucity of information surrounding how surgeons should manage cases of futile care. The literature focuses on the physician-patient relationship and includes methods for delivering bad news, yet it fails to identify a consensus definition of futile care and does not provide guidelines that future surgeons can follow when they encounter these cases. With this paper we seek to open a discussion about how to define futile care and how to teach future surgeons best practices when managing these cases.