ArticleIntensive care medicine2012
Are religion and religiosity important to end-of-life decisions and patient autonomy in the ICU? The Ethicatt study.
Article in Intensive care medicine, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 54 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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
54 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A systematic review defining non-beneficial and inappropriate end-of-life treatment in patients with non-cancer diagnoses: theoretical development for multi-stakeholder intervention design in acute care settings.BMC palliative care · 2022Pooled it
- Physician-related barriers to communication and patient- and family-centred decision-making towards the end of life in intensive care: a systematic review.Critical care (London, England) · 2014Pooled it
- Surviving Sepsis Campaign beyond survival: aligning sepsis care with patient goals.Intensive care medicine · 2026Article
- Navigating end-of-life decision-making on ECLS discontinuation in children: insights from the international ENSURE survey.European journal of pediatrics · 2025Article
- End of life care preferences in the Arab population in Israel- bridging the gap between unfounded assumptions and autonomous wishes.BMC medical ethics · 2025Article
- Perceptions of ethical decision-making climate among clinicians working in European and US ICUs: differences between religious and non-religious healthcare professionals.BMC medical ethics · 2025Observational
- Attitudes of medical doctors, nurses and paramedics towards death.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Conscience clause in brain death care: ethical and legal perspectives of young nurses and midwives in Poland.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Article
- Conscience at the End of Life.Nursing reports (Pavia, Italy) · 2024Review
- ICU Admission Preferences in the Hypothetical Event of Acute Critical Illness: A Survey of Very Old Norwegians and Their Next-of-Kins.Critical care explorations · 2024Article
- Public and Clinician Perspectives on Ventilator Withdrawal in Vegetative State Following Severe Acute Brain Injury: A Vignette Survey.Journal of Korean medical science · 2024Article
- Limitation of life sustaining therapy in disorders of consciousness: ethics and practice.Brain : a journal of neurology · 2024Review
- The impact of religion on changes in end-of-life practices in European intensive care units: a comparative analysis over 16 years.Intensive care medicine · 2023Article
- Workforce diversity in specialist physicians: Implications of findings for religious affiliation in Anaesthesia & Intensive Care.PloS one · 2023Article
- Team-family conflicts over end-of-life decisions in ICU: A survey of French physicians' beliefs.PloS one · 2023Article
- Palliative Professionals' Views on the Importance of Religion, Belief, and Spiritual Identities toward the End of Life.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Survey of End-of-Life Care in Intensive Care Units in Ain Shams University Hospitals, Cairo, Egypt.HEC forum : an interdisciplinary journal on hospitals' ethical and legal issues · 2022Article
- 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.BMC medical ethics · 2022Article
- Article
- Occurrence and timing of withdrawal of life-sustaining measures in traumatic brain injury patients: a CENTER-TBI study.Intensive care medicine · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeThis study explored differences in end-of-life (EOL) decisions and respect for patient autonomy of religious members versus those only affiliated to that particular religion (affiliated is a member without strong religious feelings).
methodsIn 2005 structured questionnaires regarding EOL decisions were distributed in six European countries to ICUs in 142 hospital ICUs. This sub-study of the original data analyzed answers from Protestants, Catholics and Jews.
resultsA total of 304 physicians, 386 nurses, 248 patients and 330 family members were included in the study. Professionals wanted less treatment (ICU admission, CPR, ventilator treatment) than patients and family members. Religious respondents wanted more treatment and were more in favor of life prolongation, and they were less likely to want active euthanasia than those affiliated. Southern nurses and doctors favored euthanasia more than their Northern colleagues. Three quarters of doctors and nurses would respect a competent patient's refusal of a potentially life-saving treatment. No differences were found between religious and affiliated professionals regarding patient's autonomy. Inter-religious differences were detected, with Protestants most likely to follow competent patients' wishes and the Jewish respondents least likely to do so, and Jewish professionals more frequently accepting patients' wishes for futile treatment. However, these findings on autonomy were due to regional differences, not religious ones.
conclusionsHealth-care professionals, families and patients who are religious will frequently want more extensive treatment than affiliated individuals. Views on active euthanasia are influenced by both religion and region, whereas views on patient autonomy are apparently more influenced by region.
Indexed as
Identifiers
22527070What 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.