Experiences and attitudes of medical professionals on treatment of end-of-life patients in intensive care units in the Republic of Croatia: a cross-sectional study

Špoljar, Diana; Vučić, Marinko; Peršec, Jasminka; Merc, Vlasta; Kereš, Tatjana; Radonić, Radovan; Poljaković, Zdravka; Nesek Adam, Višnja; Karanović, Nenad; Čaljkušić, Krešimir; Župan, Željko; Grubješić, Igor; Kopić, Jasminka; Vranković, Srđan; Krobot, Renata; Nevajdić, Bojana; Golubić, Mia; Grosek, Štefan; Kujundžić Tiljak, Mirjana; Štajduhar, Andrija; Tonković, Dinko; Borovečki, Ana

doi:10.1186/s12910-022-00752-5

Table 2 Experiences regarding end-of-life decision-making and implementation

From: Experiences and attitudes of medical professionals on treatment of end-of-life patients in intensive care units in the Republic of Croatia: a cross-sectional study

Questions/statements	Answers	All		Physicians		Nurses		Male		Female
Questions/statements	Answers	N	%	N	%	N	%	N	%	N	%
Are DNACPR decisions made in your ICU?	Frequently	81	18.5	52	38.0	29	9.6	31	30.7	48	14.5
	Rarely	217	49.5	64	46.7	153	50.8	49	48.5	165	49.7
	Never	84	19.2	14	10.2	70	23.3	12	11.9	72	21.7
Are decisions to withhold LST made in your ICU?	Frequently	60	13.7	37	27.0	23	7.6	20	19.8	37	11.1
	Rarely	213	48.6	83	60.6	130	43.2	52	51.5	160	48.2
	Never	106	24.2	9	6.6	97	32.2	18	17.8	87	26.2
Are decisions to withdraw mechanical ventilation made in your ICU?	Frequently	14	3.2	5	3.7	9	3.0	6	5.9	7	2.1
	Rarely	120	27.4	36	26.3	84	27.9	25	24.8	92	27.7
	Never	243	55.5	87	63.5	156	51.8	60	59.4	183	55.1
Are decisions to withdraw endotracheal tube made in your ICU?	Frequently	22	5.0	2	1.5	20	6.6	3	3.0	19	5.7
	Rarely	90	20.6	32	23.4	58	19.3	21	20.8	68	20.5
	Never	267	61.0	95	69.3	172	57.1	67	66.3	197	59.3
Are decisions to withdraw inotropes made in your ICU?	Frequently	98	22.4	52	38.0	46	15.3	34	33.7	60	18.1
	Rarely	178	40.6	62	45.3	116	38.5	43	42.6	135	40.7
	Never	105	24.0	14	10.2	91	30.2	16	15.8	89	26.8
Are decisions to withdraw antibiotics made in your ICU?	Frequently	87	19.9	40	29.2	47	15.6	29	28.7	56	16.9
	Rarely	151	34.5	56	40.9	95	31.6	37	36.6	113	34.0
	Never	142	32.4	32	23.4	110	36.5	25	24.8	116	34.9
Are decisions to withdraw hydration made in your ICU?	Frequently	16	3.7	3	2.2	13	4.3	5	5.0	11	3.3
	Rarely	59	13.5	15	11.0	44	14.6	18	17.8	41	12.4
	Never	302	69.0	109	79.6	193	64.1	67	66.3	231	69.6
Are DNACPR decisions made and noted in the patient's medical records?	Yes. written	36	8.2	3	2.2	33	11.0	4	4.0	32	9.6
	Yes. verbal	266	60.7	92	67.2	174	57.8	64	63.4	198	59.6
	No	123	28.1	38	27.7	85	28.2	27	26.7	95	28.6
Are decisions to limit LST made and noted in the patient’s medical records?	Yes. written	56	12.8	11	8.0	45	15.0	12	11.9	44	13.3
	Yes. verbal	259	59.1	92	67.2	167	55.5	66	65.4	189	56.9
	No	104	23.7	34	24.8	70	23.3	21	20.8	82	24.7
Do you respect DNACPR decisions?	Always	295	67.4	93	67.9	202	67.1	78	77.2	213	64.2
	Rarely	85	19.4	26	19.0	59	19.6	14	13.9	70	21.1
	Never	33	7.5	8	5.8	25	8.3	4	4.0	29	8.7
Have you been included in LST limitation decision-making?	Yes	128	29.2	98	71.5	30	10.0	48	47.5	80	24.1
Have you been included in LST limitation decision-making?	No	287	65.5	31	22.6	256	85.1	51	50.5	231	69.6
LST limitation decision-making process includes ICU physicians and other physicians included in patient’s treatment	Very true	142	32.4	77	56.2	65	21.6	38	37.6	102	30.7
	True	131	29.9	46	33.6	85	28.2	38	37.6	92	27.7
	I cannot decide	41	9.4	5	3.7	36	12.0	6	5.9	35	10.5
	Not true	22	5.0	4	2.9	18	6.0	4	4.0	18	5.4
	Not true at all	61	13.9	3	2.2	58	19.3	10	9.9	50	15.1
LST limitation decision-making process includes ICU physicians and nurses	Very true	43	9.8	18	13.1	25	8.3	14	13.9	29	8.7
	True	60	13.7	21	15.3	39	13.0	18	17.8	42	12.7
	I cannot decide	70	16.0	16	11.7	54	17.9	14	13.9	55	16.6
	Not true	81	18.5	32	23.4	49	16.3	19	18.8	62	18.7
	Not true at all	119	27.2	35	25.6	84	27.9	28	27.7	88	26.5
Who initiates LST limitation discussion?	Physicians	292	66.7	106	77.4	186	61.8	69	68.3	220	66.3
	Nurses	11	2.5	2	1.5	9	3.0	4	4.0	7	2.1
	Family/legal guardians	21	4.8	5	3.7	16	5.3	2	2.0	19	5.7
Family members/legal guardians are included in LST limitation decision-making	Very true	90	20.6	17	12.4	73	24.3	16	15.8	74	22.3
	True	125	28.5	38	27.7	87	28.9	27	26.7	94	28.3
	Not true	127	29.0	51	37.2	76	25.3	37	36.6	90	27.1
	Not true at all	74	16.9	27	19.7	47	15.6	18	17.8	55	16.6

ICU Intensive care unit; LST Life-sustaining treatment; DNACPR Do-not-attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation

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