Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30263169›Full record

ArticleThe South African journal of psychiatry : SAJP : the journal of the Society of Psychiatrists of South Africa2016

Developing the language of futility in psychiatry with care.

Willie Pienaar

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The South African journal of psychiatry : SAJP : the journal of the Society of Psychiatrists of South Africa, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
5.7field-weighted citation impact, top 4% 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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. End-of-life decision-making capacity in an elderly patient with schizophrenia and terminal cancer.South African family practice : official journal of the South African Academy of Family Practice/Primary Care · 2020
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.

Willie PienaarDepartment of Psychiatry, Stellenbosch University, South Africa.
Stellenbosch University · ZA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

In psychiatric practice, treatment success is, in many instances, not an achievable goal. Psychiatrists may often not acknowledge treatment failure in their patients and seldom consider that patients may be in situations that share similarities with end-of-life dilemmas in general somatic medicine. In such instances, futile treatment may be continued and patient suffering may be prolonged. Doctors should play a leading role in patient education, diagnosis, promoting best treatment options, motivation and support, but patients should be given the opportunity to take ownership of their illness and their future. In the discipline of psychiatry, physician-assisted suicide may be an option but warrants careful consideration. Contemporary psychiatrists may act paternalistically, refusing to accept the limitations of their scientific skills and/or struggle with the moral good of 'letting go' when required. It is arguably the seeming complexity of gauging patients' understanding (competency, capacity) to make informed decisions that perpetuates futile treatment. Most patients, even in the presence of ongoing serious psychiatric illness, are able to give consent. Psychiatrists should be aware of the difference between

Identifiers

PMID30263169
PMCPMC6138197
OpenAlexW2536438907

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.