ReviewJournal of bioethical inquiry2017
Futile Treatment-A Review.
Review in Journal of bioethical inquiry, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline 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
- Artificial intelligence and medical futility.BMC medical informatics and decision making · 2026Review
- Article
- Medical futility and the ethics of continuing treatment: a hermeneutic inquiry into patient and physician perspectives.Philosophy, ethics, and humanities in medicine : PEHM · 2025Article
- Evaluation of the Relationship Between Nurses' Attitudes Towards Futile Treatments and Their Ethical Attitudes: A Cross-Sectional and Analytical Study.Scandinavian journal of caring sciences · 2025Article
- Futility in healthcare among Mexican female patients with breast cancer in advanced stage: The patient perspective.PloS one · 2025Article
- What are the triggers for palliative care referral in burn intensive care units? Results from a qualitative study based on healthcare professionals' views, clinical experiences and practices.Palliative medicine · 2024Article
- Portuguese Advance Directives-a twist against futility? A cross sectional study.Sao Paulo medical journal = Revista paulista de medicina · 2024Article
- Survival predictors after intubation in medical wards: A prospective study in 151 patients.PloS one · 2020Article
- A 450 Year Old Turkish Poem, Art as a Qualitative Investigation Tool, Buddhist Deathways, Karma and Eudaimonia in Death and Organ Donation: The Wonders of Truly Diverse Bioethical Inquiry!Journal of bioethical inquiry · 2017Article
- Accountability for reasonableness and criteria for admission, triage and discharge in intensive care units: an analysis of current ethical recommendations.Revista Brasileira de terapia intensivaArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The main goal of intensive care medicine is helping patients survive acute threats to their lives, while preserving and restoring life quality. Because of medical advancements, it is now possible to sustain life to an extent that would previously have been difficult to imagine. However, the goals of medicine are not to preserve organ function or physiological activity but to treat and improve the health of a person as a whole. When dealing with medical futilities, physicians and other members of the care team should be aware of some ethical principles. Knowing these principles could make decision-making easier, especially in cases where legal guidelines are insufficient or lacking. Understanding of these principles can relieve the pressure that healthcare professionals feel when they have to deal with medical futility. Efforts should be made to promote an ethics of care, which means caring for patients even after further invasive treatment has been deemed to be futile. Treatments that improve patients' comfort and minimize suffering of both patients and their families are equally as important as those aimed at saving patients' lives.
Indexed as
Identifiers
28634768What 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.