Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40114097›Full record

ArticleBMC palliative care2025

Analyzing the use of specialized palliative care in intensive care unit patients in Germany: a cross-sectional study.

Christiane von Saß, Theresa Tenge, Birgitt van Oorschot, Dawid Pieper, Nicole Eisenmenger, Martin Heinze, Larissa Fink, Guido Michels, Martin Neukirchen, Marcel A Kamp

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC palliative care, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. 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

10 authors.

Christiane von SaßPalliative Care, Brandenburg Medical School Theodor Fontane and Faculty of Health Sciences Brandenburg, Rüdersdorf bei, Berlin, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7259-8492
Theresa TengeInterdisciplinary Centre for Palliative Care, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich-Heine-University, Düsseldorf, Center for Integrated Oncology Aachen Bonn Cologne Düsseldorf (CIO ABCD), Düsseldorf, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9529-2461
Birgitt van OorschotInterdisciplinary Center for Palliative Medicine, Clinic for Radiation Oncology, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3568-6535
Dawid PieperFaculty of Health Sciences Brandenburg, Brandenburg Medical School Theodor Fontane, Institute for Health Services and Health System Research, Rüdersdorf, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0715-5182
Nicole EisenmengerReimbursement Institute, Hürth, Germany.
Martin HeinzeCenter for Mental Health, Immanuel Clinic Rüdersdorf, University Hospital of Brandenburg Medical School Theodor Fontane, Rüdersdorf bei, Berlin, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3645-1033
Larissa FinkPalliative Care, Brandenburg Medical School Theodor Fontane and Faculty of Health Sciences Brandenburg, Rüdersdorf bei, Berlin, Germany.
Guido MichelsDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Hospital of the Barmherzige Brüder, Trier, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5063-5157
Martin Neukirchen *Interdisciplinary Centre for Palliative Care, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich-Heine-University, Düsseldorf, Center for Integrated Oncology Aachen Bonn Cologne Düsseldorf (CIO ABCD), Düsseldorf, Germany. martin.neukirchen@med.uni-duesseldorf.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2287-7896
Marcel A Kamp *Palliative Care, Brandenburg Medical School Theodor Fontane and Faculty of Health Sciences Brandenburg, Rüdersdorf bei, Berlin, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1252-2944

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundDespite rising importance of integration of palliative medicine in treating life-threatening illnesses in intensive care units (ICU), the extent remains unknown. Using billing data, we analysed the frequency of specialized palliative care use in ICU patients in Germany.

methodsBilling data (2019 -2022) from the InEK was used in this cross-sectional study on all billed adult ICU cases. Data included case numbers, demographics, diagnoses, treatment procedures, ventilation (≥ 95 h), palliative care frequency.

results61,591,299 adult cases were treated, 11.2% (6,912,316) requiring ICU and 499,262 (7.2%) needing long-term ventilation. 44.2% of all ICU cases and 36.2% of long-term ventilated patients were female (p < 0.0001). ICU mortality was 11.1%, long-term ventilation mortality was 38.8%; higher in men and patients aged ≥ 65 (p < 0.001). Leading diagnoses for ICU deaths: heart failure (6.9%), stroke (6.3%), sepsis (6.2%). 0.8% of ICU cases and 1.4% of long-term ventilated cases received specialized palliative care, with a higher proportion of females (p < 0.0001). Most palliative care patients were aged ≥ 65.

conclusionFrom 2019 to 2022, 11.2% of hospital cases required ICU-treatment. Despite suffering from life-threatening conditions and high mortality rates, less than 1% of all ICU cases and 1.4% of long-term ventilated cases received palliative care (differing sexes and ages). This highlights deficiencies in palliative care integration into ICUs to alleviate patients and their families suffering from complex needs. Implementing benchmarking could be beneficial in this process.

Indexed as

Intensive Care UnitsPalliative CareAdultAgedAged, 80 and overCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleGermanyHumansMaleMiddle AgedAgeCritical careGenderInterdisciplinary researchLong-term ventilationMortalityPalliative medicine

Identifiers

PMID40114097
PMCPMC11924865

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.