Using simulation to isolate physician variation in intensive care unit admission decision making for critically ill elders with end-stage cancer: a pilot feasibility study.
Crit Care Med
; 36(12): 3156-63, 2008 Dec.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-18936694
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
To determine the feasibility of high-fidelity simulation for studying variation in intensive care unit admission decision making for critically ill elders with end-stage cancer.DESIGN:
Mixed qualitative and quantitative analysis of physician subjects participating in a simulation scenario using hospital set, actors, medical chart, and vital signs tracings. The simulation depicted a 78-yr-old man with metastatic gastric cancer, life-threatening hypoxia most likely attributable to cancer progression, and stable preferences to avoid intensive care unit admission and intubation. Two independent raters assessed the simulations and subjects completed a postsimulation web-based survey and debriefing interview.SETTING:
Peter M. Winter Institute for Simulation Education and Research at the University of Pittsburgh.SUBJECTS:
Twenty-seven hospital-based attending physicians, including 6 emergency physicians, 13 hospitalists, and 8 intensivists. MEASUREMENTS AND MAINRESULTS:
Outcomes included qualitative report of clinical verisimilitude during the debriefing interview, survey-reported diagnosis and prognosis, and observed treatment decisions. Independent variables included physician demographics, risk attitude, and reactions to uncertainty. All (100%) reported that the case and simulation were highly realistic, and their diagnostic and prognostic assessments were consistent with our intent. Eight physicians (29.6%) admitted the patient to the intensive care unit. Among the eight physicians who admitted the patient to the intensive care unit, three (37%) initiated palliation, two (25%) documented the patient's code status (do not intubate/do not resuscitate), and one intubated the patient. Among the 19 physicians who did not admit the patient to the intensive care unit, 13 (68%) initiated palliation and 5 (42%) documented code status. Intensivists and emergency physicians (p = 0.048) were more likely to admit the patient to the intensive care unit. Years since medical school graduation were inversely associated with the initiation of palliative care (p = 0.043).CONCLUSIONS:
Simulation can reproduce the decision context of intensive care unit triage for a critically ill patient with terminal illness. When faced with an identical patient, hospital-based physicians from the same institution vary significantly in their treatment decisions.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Admissão do Paciente
/
Padrões de Prática Médica
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Simulação de Paciente
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Estado Terminal
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Unidades de Terapia Intensiva
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Neoplasias
Tipo de estudo:
Etiology_studies
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Prognostic_studies
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Qualitative_research
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Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Adult
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Aged
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Female
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Humans
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Male
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Middle aged
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Crit Care Med
Ano de publicação:
2008
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Estados Unidos