ArticleJournal of palliative medicine2008
Physicians' expectations of benefit from tube feeding.
Article in Journal of palliative medicine, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 43 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Oral feeding options for people with dementia: a systematic review.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2011Pooled it
- Impact of a decision aid on surrogate decision-makers' perceptions of feeding options for patients with dementia.Journal of the American Medical Directors Association · 2013Trial
- Improving decision-making for feeding options in advanced dementia: a randomized, controlled trial.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2011Trial
- Factors Influencing Decision Making for Gastrostomy Tube Placement for People Living with Serious Illness: A Scoping Review.Journal of palliative medicine · 2025Article
- Comparison of survival and pneumonia risk in advanced dementia patients on nasogastric tube feeding versus careful hand feeding.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2025Article
- Use of Feeding Tubes Among Hospitalized Older Adults With Dementia.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- Hospital Careful Hand Feeding Program Reduced Feeding Tube Use in Patients with Advanced Dementia.The journal of nutrition, health & aging · 2023Article
- Trends and outcomes associated with gastrostomy tube placement in common neurodegenerative disorders.Clinical parkinsonism & related disorders · 2021Article
- Physician opinions on decision making for percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) feeding tube placement.Surgical endoscopy · 2019Article
- Clinical Variables Associated with Hydration Status in Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients with Dysphagia.Dysphagia · 2016Article
- Is short-term percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube placement beneficial in acutely ill cognitively intact elderly patients? A proposed decision-making algorithm.Geriatrics & gerontology international · 2015Article
- Religion and United States physicians' opinions and self-predicted practices concerning artificial nutrition and hydration.Journal of religion and health · 2013Article
- Decision-making and outcomes of feeding tube insertion: a five-state study.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2011Article
- Successful clinical trial research in nursing homes: the Improving Decision-Making Study.Clinical trials (London, England) · 2010Article
- Nurses' perspectives on feeding decisions for nursing home residents with advanced dementia.Journal of clinical nursing · 2010Article
- Factors Influencing Physician Prognosis: A Scoping Review.MDM policy & practiceArticle
- Doctors' Knowledge and Attitudes Regarding Enteral Feeding and Eating Problems in Advanced Dementia.Dementia and geriatric cognitive disorders extraArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTube feeding is increasingly common, despite evidence for limited medical benefits. We interviewed treating physicians to describe their expectation of benefit for patients receiving a new feeding tube, and to determine whether expected benefits vary by patient characteristics.
methodsWe recruited treating physicians and surrogate decision-makers for 288 hospitalized patients in a prospective study of new feeding tube decisions. In structured interviews, physicians provided information on patients' diagnosis and whether they expected any of eight potential medical benefits for a specific patient; surrogates provided information about the patients' function, race, age, prior residence, and ability to eat by mouth.
resultsWe completed interviews with 173 physicians about tube feeding for 280 patients (response rate, 97%). Patients commonly had acute stroke (30%), neurodegenerative disease (16%), or head and neck cancer (22%); 70% were somewhat or severely malnourished. In half or more cases, physicians expected benefits of improved nutrition (93%), hydration (60%), prolonged life (58%), ease providing medication (55%), and less aspiration risk (49%). Physicians endorsed more expected benefits for patients with stroke or those completely unable to eat by mouth (p < 0.05).
conclusionTreating physicians expected multiple medical benefits for a diverse population of patients receiving feeding tubes. Physicians may be unaware of evidence, or expect more optimistic outcomes for their specific patient population. Further education and decision support may improve evidence-based decision-making about feeding tubes.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.