Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37131029›Full record

ArticleCanadian journal of anaesthesia = Journal canadien d'anesthesie2023

Death determination by neurologic criteria-what do families understand?

Aimee J Sarti, Stephanie Sutherland, Maureen Meade, Laura Hornby, Lindsay C Wilson, Angele Landriault, Brandi Vanderspank-Wright, Sabira Valiani, Sean Keenan, Matthew J Weiss and 15 more

Erratum issuedOpen access · hybridAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Canadian journal of anaesthesia = Journal canadien d'anesthesie, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
5.2field-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

6 citing papers in PubMed, 19 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Themes in the Management of Pediatric Brain Death Contestation: Exploratory Qualitative Work From Multidisciplinary Health Professionals in the United States.Pediatric critical care medicine : a journal of the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies · 2025
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Apnea Test: The Family in the Room.Neurocritical care · 2024
    Article
  6. In reply: Brain death is more than technical.Canadian journal of anaesthesia = Journal canadien d'anesthesie · 2023
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

25 authors at 14 institutions in 1 country.

Aimee J SartiDepartment of Critical Care, The Ottawa Hospital, General Campus, Ottawa, ON, K1H 8L6, Canada. asarti@toh.ca.
Stephanie SutherlandDepartment of Critical Care, The Ottawa Hospital, General Campus, Ottawa, ON, K1H 8L6, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2751-3773
Maureen MeadeDepartment of Critical Care, Hamilton Health Sciences, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
Laura HornbyCanadian Blood Services, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Lindsay C WilsonCanadian Blood Services, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Angele LandriaultPractice, Performance and Innovation Unit, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Brandi Vanderspank-WrightOttawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Sabira ValianiDepartment of Adult Critical Care, Saskatchewan Health Authority, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.
Sean KeenanBC Transplant, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Matthew J WeissTransplant Québec, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Kim WerestiukTransplant Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
Stephen BeedDepartment of Critical Care, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada.
Andreas H KramerDepartments of Critical Care Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, University of Calgary and Southern Alberta Organ and Tissue Donation Program, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Joann KawchukDepartment of Adult Critical Care, Saskatchewan Health Authority, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.
Pierre CardinalDepartment of Critical Care, The Ottawa Hospital, General Campus, Ottawa, ON, K1H 8L6, Canada.
Sonny DhananiDivision of Critical Care, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Ken LotheringtonCanadian Blood Services, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Giuseppe PagliarelloDepartment of Critical Care, The Ottawa Hospital, General Campus, Ottawa, ON, K1H 8L6, Canada.
Michaël ChasséDepartment of Medicine, Centre hospitalier de L'Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Mary GatienHorizon Health Network, Miramichi, NB, Canada.
Kim ParsonsOrgan Procurement and Exchange of Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John's, NL, Canada.
Jennifer A ChandlerCommon Law Section, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Peter NickersonFaculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
Sam D ShemieCanadian Blood Services, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Canadian Critical Care Trials Group (CCCTG)
Ottawa Hospital · CACanadian Blood Services · CASaskatchewan Health Authority · CAUniversity of Ottawa · CACentre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal · CAChildren's Hospital of Eastern Ontario · CADalhousie University · CAHamilton Health Sciences · CAHorizon Health Network · CAMcGill University · CARoyal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada · CAUniversity of British Columbia · CAUniversity of Calgary · CAUniversity of Manitoba · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeCurrently, there is little empirical data on family understanding about brain death and death determination. The purpose of this study was to describe family members' (FMs') understanding of brain death and the process of determining death in the context of organ donation in Canadian intensive care units (ICUs).

methodsWe conducted a qualitative study using semistructured, in-depth interviews with FMs who were asked to make an organ donation decision on behalf of adult or pediatric patients with death determination by neurologic criteria (DNC) in Canadian ICUs.

resultsFrom interviews with 179 FMs, six main themes emerged: 1) state of mind, 2) communication, 3) DNC may be counterintuitive, 4) preparation for the DNC clinical assessment, 5) DNC clinical assessment, and 6) time of death. Recommendations on how clinicians can help FMs to understand and accept DNC through communication at key moments were described including preparing FMs for death determination, allowing FMs to be present, and explaining the legal time of death, combined with multimodal strategies. For many FMs, understanding of DNC unfolded over time, facilitated with repeated encounters and explanation, rather than during a single meeting.

conclusionFamily members' understanding of brain death and death determination represented a journey that they reported in sequential meeting with health care providers, most notably physicians. Modifiable factors to improve communication and bereavement outcomes during DNC include attention to the state of mind of the family, pacing and repeating discussions according to families' expressed understanding, and preparing and inviting families to be present for the clinical determination including apnea testing. We have provided family-generated recommendations that are pragmatic and can be easily implemented.

Indexed as

BereavementTissue and Organ ProcurementAdultBrain DeathCanadaChildFamilyGriefHumansbereaved family membersbrain deathbrain death determinationdeath determination by neurologic criteriaqualitative

Identifiers

PMID37131029
PMCPMC10203015
OpenAlexW4367693413

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
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.