Do objectiue Estimates of chances for Survival Influence Decisions to Withhold or Withdraw Treatment?

Abstract

The authors studied the impact on clinical decision making of providing feedback of objective prognostic information describing the probability of survival for ICU patients with multiple organ system failure (OSF). The prognostic estimates, derived from a control period (1), were to be provided on a daily basis to physicians providing treatment in 25 French ICUs during a subsequent experimental period (2). The types of, frequencies of, and reasons for decisions to limit or stop treatment in the two periods were compared. In the experimental period 2, 17 ICUs participated in the feedback study. Within these 17 units, there was a small but significant (p Key words: prediction; feedback; outcome; prognosis; organ system failure; treatment decisions. (Med Decis Making 1990;10:163-171)