Evidence map›Paper›PMID 17541550›Full record

ArticleIntensive care medicine2007

The importance of religious affiliation and culture on end-of-life decisions in European intensive care units.

Charles L Sprung, Paulo Maia, Hans-Henrik Bulow, Bara Ricou, Apostolos Armaganidis, Mario Baras, Elisabet Wennberg, Konrad Reinhart, Simon L Cohen, Dietmar R Fries and 3 more

Erratum issued Registry-linked trialAbstract readMulticenter Study
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Intensive care medicine, 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. It is linked to trial NCT02129283 (Can We Improve the Quality of Care at the End of Life in Israel?), which is not on this map. Cited by 92 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
92citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
12.3field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT02129283 naunknown statusnot on this mapstarted 2014, after this paper: background citation

Can We Improve the Quality of Care at the End of Life in Israel?

TypeinterventionalSponsorHadassah Medical OrganizationRan2014 to 2017Enrolled300ConditionsEnd of Life ProcessArmsSimulation training
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

92 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 303 citations in OpenAlex.

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32 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

  • Erratum issued
5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors at 11 institutions in 11 countries.

Charles L SprungGeneral Intensive Care Unit, Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Medical Center, Hadassah Hebrew University, P.O. Box 12000, 91120, Jerusalem, Israel. sprung@cc.huji.ac.il
Paulo Maia
Hans-Henrik Bulow
Bara Ricou
Apostolos Armaganidis
Mario Baras
Elisabet Wennberg
Konrad Reinhart
Simon L Cohen
Dietmar R Fries
George Nakos
Lambertius G Thijs
Ethicus Study Group
Hadassah Medical Center · ILAmsterdam UMC Location VUmc · NLEvangelismos Hospital · GRFriedrich Schiller University Jena · DEGlostrup Hospital · DKHôpital Beau-Séjour · CHHospital de Santo António · PTInnsbruck Medical University · ATKrajská Zdravotní · CZSahlgrenska University Hospital · SEUniversity College London · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo determine the influence of religious affiliation and culture on end-of-life decisions in European intensive care units (ICUs). DESIGN AND

settingA prospective, observational study of European ICUs was performed on consecutive patients with any limitation of therapy. Prospectively defined end-of-life practices in 37 ICUs in 17 European countries studied from 1 January 1999 to 30 June 2000 were compared for frequencies, patterns, timing, and communication by religious affiliation of physicians and patients and regions.

resultsOf the 31,417 patients 3,086 had limitations. Withholding occurred more often than withdrawing if the physician was Jewish (81%), Greek Orthodox (78%), or Moslem (63%). Withdrawing occurred more often for physicians who were Catholic (53%), Protestant (49%), or had no religious affiliation (47%). End-of-life decisions differed for physicians between regions and who had any religious affiliation vs. no religious affiliation in all three geographical regions. Median time from ICU admission to first limitation of therapy was 3.2 days but varied by religious affiliation; from 1.6 days for Protestant to 7.6 days for Greek Orthodox physicians. Median times from limitations to death also varied by physician's religious affiliation. Decisions were discussed with the families more often if the physician was Protestant (80%), Catholic (70%), had no religious affiliation (66%) or was Jewish (63%).

conclusionsSignificant differences associated with religious affiliation and culture were observed for the type of end of life decision, the times to therapy limitation and death, and discussion of decisions with patient families.

Indexed as

Cultural CharacteristicsDecision MakingReligionAdolescentAdultAgedAged, 80 and overCommunicationEuropeFemaleHumansIntensive Care UnitsMaleMiddle AgedPhysician-Patient RelationsProspective Studies

Identifiers

PMID17541550
OpenAlexW2148391814

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.