Tight Blood-Glucose Control without Early Parenteral Nutrition in the ICU.

BACKGROUND: Randomized, controlled trials have shown both benefit and harm from tight blood-glucose control in patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). Variation in the use of early parenteral nutrition and in insulin-induced severe hypoglycemia might explain this inconsistency. METHODS: We randomly assigned patients, on ICU admission, to liberal glucose control (insulin initiated only when the blood-glucose level was >215 mg per deciliter [>11.9 mmol per liter]) or to tight glucose control (blood-glucose level targeted with the use of the LOGIC-Insulin algorithm at 80 to 110 mg per deciliter [4.4 to 6.1 mmol per liter]); parenteral nutrition was withheld in both groups for 1 week. Protocol adherence was determined according to glucose metrics. The primary outcome was the length of time that ICU care was needed, calculated on the basis of time to discharge alive from the ICU, with death accounted for as a competing risk; 90-day mortality was the safety outcome. RESULTS: Of 9230 patients who underwent randomization, 4622 were assigned to liberal glucose control and 4608 to tight glucose control. The median morning blood-glucose level was 140 mg per deciliter (interquartile range, 122 to 161) with liberal glucose control and 107 mg per deciliter (interquartile range, 98 to 117) with tight glucose control. Severe hypoglycemia occurred in 31 patients (0.7%) in the liberal-control group and 47 patients (1.0%) in the tight-control group. The length of time that ICU care was needed was similar in the two groups (hazard ratio for earlier discharge alive with tight glucose control, 1.00; 95% confidence interval, 0.96 to 1.04; P = 0.94). Mortality at 90 days was also similar (10.1% with liberal glucose control and 10.5% with tight glucose control, P = 0.51). Analyses of eight prespecified secondary outcomes suggested that the incidence of new infections, the duration of respiratory and hemodynamic support, the time to discharge alive from the hospital, and mortality in the ICU and hospital were similar in the two groups, whereas severe acute kidney injury and cholestatic liver dysfunction appeared less prevalent with tight glucose control. CONCLUSIONS: In critically ill patients who were not receiving early parenteral nutrition, tight glucose control did not affect the length of time that ICU care was needed or mortality. (Funded by the Research Foundation-Flanders and others; TGC-Fast ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT03665207.).

One-year Mortality of Cancer Patients with an Unplanned ICU Admission: A Cohort Analysis Between 2008 and 2017 in the Netherlands.

Introduction: A decrease in short-term mortality of critically ill cancer patients with an unplanned intensive care unit (ICU) admission has been described. Few studies describe a change over time of 1-year mortality. Therefore, we examined the 1-year mortality of cancer patients (hematological or solid) with an unplanned ICU admission and we described whether the mortality changed over time. Methods: We used the National Intensive Care Evaluation (NICE) registry and extracted all patients with an unplanned ICU admission in the Netherlands between 2008 and 2017. The primary outcome was 1-year mortality, analyzed with a mixed-effects Cox proportional hazard regression. We compared the 1-year mortality of cancer patients to that of patients without cancer. Furthermore, we examined changes in mortality over the study period. Results: We included 470,305 patients: 10,401 with hematological cancer, 35,920 with solid cancer, and 423,984 without cancer. The 1-year mortality rates were 60.1%, 46.2%, and 28.3% respectively (P< .01). Approximately 30% of the cancer patients surviving their hospital admission died within 1 year, this was 12% in patients without cancer. In hematological patients, 1-year mortality decreased between 2008 and 2011, after which it stabilized. In solid cancer patients, inspection showed neither an increasing nor decreasing trend over the inclusion period. For patients without cancer, 1-year mortality decreased between 2008 and 2013, after which it stabilized. A clear decrease in hospital mortality was seen within all three groups. Conclusion: The 1-year mortality of cancer patients with an unplanned ICU admission (hematological and solid) was higher than that of patients without cancer. About one-third of the cancer patients surviving their hospital admission died within 1 year after ICU admission. We found a decrease in 1-year mortality until 2011 in hematology patients and no decrease in solid cancer patients. Our results suggest that for many cancer patients, an unplanned ICU admission is still a way to recover from critical illness, and it does not necessarily lead to success in long-term survival. The underlying type of malignancy is an important factor for long-term outcomes in patients recovering from critical illness.

Treatment Limitation Decisions in Critically Ill Patients With a Malignancy on the Intensive Care Unit.

BACKGROUND: Treatment limitation decisions (TLDs) on the ICU can be challenging, especially in patients with a malignancy. Up-to-date literature regarding TLDs in critically ill patients with a malignancy admitted to the ICU is scarce. The aim was to compare the incidence of written TLDs between patients with an active malignancy, patients with a malignancy in their medical history (complete remission, CR) and patients without a malignancy admitted unplanned to the ICU. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study in a large university hospital in the Netherlands. We identified all unplanned admissions to the ICU in 2017 and categorized the patients in 3 groups: patients with an active malignancy (study population), with CR and without a malignancy. A TLD was defined as a written instruction not to perform life-saving treatments, such as CPR in case of cardiac arrest. A multivariate binary logistic regression analysis was used to identify whether having a malignancy was associated with TLDs. RESULTS: Of the 1046 unplanned admissions, 125 patients (12%) had an active malignancy and 76 (7.3%) patients had CR. The incidence of written TLDs in these subgroups were 37 (29.6%) and 20 (26.3%). Age (OR 1.03; 95% CI 1.01 -1.04), SOFA score at ICU admission (OR 1.11; 95% CI 1.05 -1.18) and having an active malignancy (OR 1.75; 95% CI 1.04-2.96) compared to no malignancy were independently associated with written TLDs. SOFA scores on the day of the TLD were not significantly different in patients with and without a malignancy. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that the presence of an underlying malignancy is independently associated with written TLDs during ICU stay. Patients with CR were not at risk of more written TLDs. Whether this higher incidence of TLDs in patients with a malignancy is justified, is at least questionable and should be evaluated in future research.

The obesity paradox in critically ill patients: a causal learning approach to a casual finding.

BACKGROUND: While obesity confers an increased risk of death in the general population, numerous studies have reported an association between obesity and improved survival among critically ill patients. This contrary finding has been referred to as the obesity paradox. In this retrospective study, two causal inference approaches were used to address whether the survival of non-obese critically ill patients would have been improved if they had been obese. METHODS: The study cohort comprised 6557 adult critically ill patients hospitalized at the Intensive Care Unit of the Ghent University Hospital between 2015 and 2017. Obesity was defined as a body mass index of ≥ 30 kg/m2. Two causal inference approaches were used to estimate the average effect of obesity in the non-obese (AON): a traditional approach that used regression adjustment for confounding and that assumed missingness completely at random and a robust approach that used machine learning within the targeted maximum likelihood estimation framework along with multiple imputation of missing values under the assumption of missingness at random. 1754 (26.8%) patients were discarded in the traditional approach because of at least one missing value for obesity status or confounders. RESULTS: Obesity was present in 18.9% of patients. The in-hospital mortality was 14.6% in non-obese patients and 13.5% in obese patients. The raw marginal risk difference for in-hospital mortality between obese and non-obese patients was - 1.06% (95% confidence interval (CI) - 3.23 to 1.11%, P = 0.337). The traditional approach resulted in an AON of - 2.48% (95% CI - 4.80 to - 0.15%, P = 0.037), whereas the robust approach yielded an AON of - 0.59% (95% CI - 2.77 to 1.60%, P = 0.599). CONCLUSIONS: A causal inference approach that is robust to residual confounding bias due to model misspecification and selection bias due to missing (at random) data mitigates the obesity paradox observed in critically ill patients, whereas a traditional approach results in even more paradoxical findings. The robust approach does not provide evidence that the survival of non-obese critically ill patients would have been improved if they had been obese.

Perceptions of Ethical Decision-Making Climate Among Clinicians Working in European and U.S. ICUs: Differences Between Nurses and Physicians.

OBJECTIVES: To examine perceptions of nurses and physicians in regard to ethical decision-making climate in the ICU and to test the hypothesis that the worse the ethical decision-making climate, the greater the discordance between nurses' and physicians' rating of ethical decision-making climate with physicians hypothesized to rate the climate better than the nurses. DESIGN: Prospective observational study. SETTING: A total of 68 adult ICUs in 13 European countries and the United States. SUBJECTS: ICU physicians and nurses. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Perceptions of ethical decision-making climate among clinicians were measured in April-May 2014, using a 35-items self-assessment questionnaire that evaluated seven factors (empowering leadership by physicians, interdisciplinary reflection, not avoiding end-of-life decisions, mutual respect within the interdisciplinary team, involvement of nurses in end-of-life care and decision-making, active decision-making by physicians, and ethical awareness). A total of 2,275 nurses and 717 physicians participated (response rate of 63%). Using cluster analysis, ICUs were categorized according to four ethical decision-making climates: good, average with nurses' involvement at end-of-life, average without nurses' involvement at end-of-life, and poor. Overall, physicians rated ethical decision-making climate more positively than nurses (p < 0.001 for all seven factors). Physicians had more positive perceptions of ethical decision-making climate than nurses in all 13 participating countries and in each individual participating ICU. Compared to ICUs with good or average ethical decision-making climates, ICUs with poor ethical decision-making climates had the greatest discordance between physicians and nurses. Although nurse/physician differences were found in all seven factors of ethical decision-making climate measurement, the factors with greatest discordance were regarding physician leadership, interdisciplinary reflection, and not avoiding end-of-life decisions. CONCLUSIONS: Physicians consistently perceived ICU ethical decision-making climate more positively than nurses. ICUs with poor ethical decision-making climates had the largest discrepancies.

High-Flow Nasal Cannula Oxygenation in Immunocompromised Patients With Acute Hypoxemic Respiratory Failure: A Groupe de Recherche Respiratoire en Réanimation Onco-Hématologique Study.

OBJECTIVE: In immunocompromised patients with acute respiratory failure, invasive mechanical ventilation remains associated with high mortality. Choosing the adequate oxygenation strategy is of the utmost importance in that setting. High-flow nasal oxygen has recently shown survival benefits in unselected patients with acute respiratory failure. The objective was to assess outcomes of immunocompromised patients with hypoxemic acute respiratory failure treated with high-flow nasal oxygen. DESIGN: We performed a post hoc analysis of a randomized controlled trial of noninvasive ventilation in critically ill immunocompromised patients with hypoxemic acute respiratory failure. SETTING: Twenty-nine ICUs in France and Belgium. PATIENTS: Critically ill immunocompromised patients with hypoxemic acute respiratory failure. INTERVENTION: A propensity score-based approach was used to assess the impact of high-flow nasal oxygen compared with standard oxygen on day 28 mortality. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Among 374 patients included in the study, 353 met inclusion criteria. Underlying disease included mostly malignancies (n = 296; 84%). Acute respiratory failure etiologies were mostly pneumonia (n = 157; 44.4%) or opportunistic infection (n = 76; 21.5%). Noninvasive ventilation was administered to 180 patients (51%). Invasive mechanical ventilation was ultimately needed in 142 patients (40.2%). Day 28 mortality was 22.6% (80 deaths). Throughout the ICU stay, 127 patients (36%) received high-flow nasal oxygen whereas 226 patients received standard oxygen. Ninety patients in each group (high-flow nasal oxygen or standard oxygen) were matched according to the propensity score, including 91 of 180 (51%) who received noninvasive ventilation. High-flow nasal oxygen was neither associated with a lower intubation rate (hazard ratio, 0.42; 95% CI, 0.11-1.61; p = 0.2) nor day 28 mortality (hazard ratio, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.45-1.42; p = 0.45). CONCLUSIONS: In immunocompromised patients with hypoxemic acute respiratory failure, high-flow nasal oxygen when compared with standard oxygen did not reduce intubation or survival rates. However, these results could be due to low statistical power or unknown confounders associated with the subgroup analysis. A randomized trial is needed.

Determinants of procedural pain intensity in the intensive care unit. The Europain® study.

RATIONALE: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients undergo several diagnostic and therapeutic procedures every day. The prevalence, intensity, and risk factors of pain related to these procedures are not well known. OBJECTIVES: To assess self-reported procedural pain intensity versus baseline pain, examine pain intensity differences across procedures, and identify risk factors for procedural pain intensity. METHODS: Prospective, cross-sectional, multicenter, multinational study of pain intensity associated with 12 procedures. Data were obtained from 3,851 patients who underwent 4,812 procedures in 192 ICUs in 28 countries. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Pain intensity on a 0-10 numeric rating scale increased significantly from baseline pain during all procedures (P < 0.001). Chest tube removal, wound drain removal, and arterial line insertion were the three most painful procedures, with median pain scores of 5 (3-7), 4.5 (2-7), and 4 (2-6), respectively. By multivariate analysis, risk factors independently associated with greater procedural pain intensity were the specific procedure; opioid administration specifically for the procedure; preprocedural pain intensity; preprocedural pain distress; intensity of the worst pain on the same day, before the procedure; and procedure not performed by a nurse. A significant ICU effect was observed, with no visible effect of country because of its absorption by the ICU effect. Some of the risk factors became nonsignificant when each procedure was examined separately. CONCLUSIONS: Knowledge of risk factors for greater procedural pain intensity identified in this study may help clinicians select interventions that are needed to minimize procedural pain. Clinical trial registered with www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT 01070082).

Time to look beyond one-year mortality in critically ill hematological patients?

The spectacular improvement in long-term prognosis of patients with hematological malignancies since the 1980s, coupled with the subsequent improvement over the past decade in short- and mid-term survival in cases of critical illness, resulted in an increasing referral of such patients to the ICU. A remaining question, however, is how these patients perform in the long term with regard to survival and quality of life. Here we discuss the present multicenter study on survival beyond 1 year in critically ill patients with hematological malignancies. We conclude with suggestions on how we can further improve the long-term outcome of these patients.

Development of antibiotic treatment algorithms based on local ecology and respiratory surveillance cultures to restrict the use of broad-spectrum antimicrobial drugs in the treatment of hospital-acquired pneumonia in the intensive care unit: a retrospective analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Timely administration of appropriate antibiotic therapy has been shown to improve outcome in hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP). Empirical treatment guidelines tailored to local ecology have been advocated in antibiotic stewardship programs. We compared a local ecology based algorithm (LEBA) to a surveillance culture based algorithm (SCBA) in terms of appropriate coverage and spectrum of antimicrobial activity. METHODS: We retrospectively assessed 2 hypothetical empirical antibiotic treatment algorithms for HAP on an existing high-quality prospectively collected database in a mixed 36-bed tertiary intensive care unit (ICU). Data on consecutive episodes of microbiologically confirmed HAP were collected over a period of 40 months and divided in a derivation (1 July 2009 to 31 October 2010) and validation (1 November 2010 until 31 October 2012) cohort. On the derivation cohort we constructed a LEBA, based on overall observed bacterial resistance patterns, and a SCBA, which targeted therapy to surveillance culture (SC) in the individual patient. Therapy was directed against pathogens found in respiratory SC collected two to five days before HAP, and in the absence of these, presence or absence of multi-drug resistant (MDR) pathogens in other SC dictated broad-spectrum, respectively narrow spectrum antibiotic therapy. Subsequently, LEBA and SCBA were retrospectively reviewed and compared with actually prescribed antibiotics in the validation cohort. RESULTS: The first 100 HAP episodes made up the derivation cohort and the subsequent 113 HAP episodes the validation cohort. Appropriate antibiotic coverage rates by applying LEBA and SCBA were 88.5% and 87.6%, respectively, and did not differ significantly with respect to appropriateness of the actually prescribed initial therapy (84.1%). SCBA proposed more narrow spectrum therapy as compared to LEBA and the actually prescribed antimicrobials (P <0.001). SCBA recommended significantly less combination therapy and carbapenems compared to LEBA (P <0.001). SCBA targeted antibiotics to recent respiratory SC in 38.1% (43 out of 113 episodes) of HAP; in these cases adequacy was 93% (40 out of 43). CONCLUSION: Rates of appropriate antimicrobial coverage were identical in LEBA and SCBA. However, in this setting of moderate MDR prevalence, the use of SCBA would result in a significant reduction of the use of broad-spectrum drugs and may be a preferential strategy when implementing antibiotic stewardship programs.

Coaching doctors to improve ethical decision-making in adult hospitalized patients potentially receiving excessive treatment. The CODE stepped-wedge cluster randomized controlled trial.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to assess whether coaching doctors to enhance ethical decision-making in teams improves (1) goal-oriented care operationalized via written do-not-intubate and do-not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation (DNI-DNACPR) orders in adult patients potentially receiving excessive treatment (PET) during their first hospital stay and (2) the quality of the ethical climate. METHODS: We carried out a stepped-wedge cluster randomized controlled trial in the medical intensive care unit (ICU) and 9 referring internal medicine departments of Ghent University Hospital between February 2022 and February 2023. Doctors and nurses in charge of hospitalized patients filled out the ethical decision-making climate questionnaire (ethical decision-making climate questionnaire, EDMCQ) before and after the study, and anonymously identified PET via an electronic alert during the entire study period. All departments were randomly assigned to a 4-month coaching. At least one month of coaching was compared to less than one month coaching and usual care. The first primary endpoint was the incidence of written DNI-DNACPR decisions. The second primary endpoint was the EDMCQ before and after the study period. Because clinicians identified less PET than required to detect a difference in written DNI-DNACPR decisions, a post-hoc analysis on the overall population was performed. To reduce type I errors, we further restricted the analysis to one of our predefined secondary endpoints (mortality up to 1 year). RESULTS: Of the 442 and 423 clinicians working before and after the study period, respectively 270 (61%) and 261 (61.7%) filled out the EDMCQ. Fifty of the 93 (53.7%) doctors participated in the coaching for a mean (standard deviation [SD]) of 4.36 (2.55) sessions. Of the 7254 patients, 125 (1.7%) were identified as PET, with 16 missing outcome data. Twenty-six of the PET and 624 of the overall population already had a written DNI-DNACPR decision at study entry, resulting in 83 and 6614 patients who were included in the main and post hoc analysis, respectively. The estimated incidence of written DNI-DNACPR decisions in the intervention vs. control arm was, respectively, 29.7% vs. 19.6% (odds ratio 4.24, 95% confidence interval 4.21-4.27; P < 0.001) in PET and 3.4% vs. 1.9% (1.65, 1.12-2.43; P = 0.011) in the overall study population. The estimated mortality at one year was respectively 85% vs. 83.7% (hazard ratio 2.76, 1.26-6.04; P = 0.011) and 14.5% vs. 15.1% (0.89, 0.72-1.09; P = 0.251). The mean difference in EDMCQ before and after the study period was 0.02 points (- 0.18 to 0.23; P = 0.815). CONCLUSION: This study suggests that coaching doctors regarding ethical decision-making in teams safely improves goal-oriented care operationalized via written DNI-DNACPR decisions in hospitalized patients, however without concomitantly improving the quality of the ethical climate.

Causes and consequences of disproportionate care in intensive care medicine.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Increased use of advanced life-sustaining measures in patients with poor long-term expectations secondary to more chronic organ dysfunctions, comorbidities and/or a poor quality of life has become a worrying trend over the last decade. This can lead to futile, disproportionate or inappropriate care in the ICU. This review summarizes the causes and consequences of disproportionate care in the ICU. RECENT FINDINGS: Disproportionate care seems to be common in European and North American ICUs. The initiation and prolongation of disproportionate care can be related to hospital facilities, healthcare providers, the patient and his/her representatives and society. This can have serious consequences for patients, their relatives, physicians, nurses and society. SUMMARY: Disproportionate care is common in western ICUs. It can lead to violation of basic bioethical principles, suffering of patients and relatives and compassion fatigue and moral distress in healthcare providers. Avoiding inappropriate use of ICU resources and disproportionate care in the ICU should have high priority for ICU managers but also for every healthcare provider taking care of patients at the bedside.

Organization, feasibility and patient appreciation of a follow-up consultation in surgical critically ill patients with favorable baseline quality of life and prolonged ICU-stay: a pilot study.

OBJECTIVES: Intensive care unit (ICU) survivors are often left with impairments in physical, mental and cognitive functioning (Post-Intensive Care Syndrome (PICS)). We evaluated the organization, the feasibility for caregivers and patients and the patients' appreciation of a post-ICU consultation aiming to detect these PICS-symptoms. METHODS: A single-center prospective observational pilot study was conducted during an 18 month-period in the surgical ICU of a tertiary care hospital. Consecutive adult patients with an ICU-stay of ≥8 days and a favorable baseline quality of life (utility index ≥0.6 on EQ-5D-3 L) were eligible for inclusion. A post-ICU follow-up consultation consisting of a structured interview was scheduled 3 months after hospital discharge. Characteristics of the consultation (CG) and no consultation group (NCG) were compared. P-values <0.05 were considered significant. RESULTS: Of 133 eligible patients, 85 (64%) consented for the study and 42 (49%) attended the consultation. A total of 148 phone calls were made to schedule the consultations. Consultations took a median of 68 (61-74) minutes. Compared to CG-patients, NCG-patients were more often discharged to a care facility (P = 0.003) and had more problems with mobility (P = 0.014), self-care (P < 0.001) and usual activities (P = 0.005) after 3 months. At least one PICS-related problem was documented in all patients in the CG and NCG. Thirty-four CG-patients (81%) appreciated the initiative. CONCLUSION: Organizing an ICU-follow-up consultation was difficult and feasibility was low, but most attending patients appreciated the initiative. Better developed structures for ICU-follow-up are needed in view of the high number of PICS-related problems documented.

What is appropriate care? A qualitative study into the perceptions of healthcare professionals in Flemish university hospital intensive care units.

Aim: This study examines when healthcare professionals consider intensive care as appropriate care. Background: Despite attempts to conceptualize appropriate care in prior research, there is a lack of insight into its meaning and implementation in practice. This is an important issue because healthcare professionals as well as patients and relatives report inappropriate care in the intensive care unit (ICU) on a regular basis. Methods: A qualitative study was designed, based on principles of grounded theory. Seventeen semi-structured interviews were conducted with nurses, doctors and doctors in training from three Flemish university hospitals. Analyses followed the Quagol method; insights were gained by means of the constant comparative method. Results: Healthcare professionals described appropriate care as socially sustainable care, high-quality care, patient-oriented care, dignified care and meaningful care. They considered it important that care is not only proportional to the expected survival and quality of life of the patient and in line with the patient's or relatives' wishes, but also that the pursuit of the care goals is proportional to the patient's suffering.Although healthcare professionals indicated the same elements of appropriate care, they were defined and interpreted in individual and therefore different ways. This diversity lies at the basis of fields of tension and frustrations among healthcare professionals. Conclusion: Appropriate care is defined and interpreted in individual and therefore different ways. In order to decide which type of care is appropriate for a specific patient, a process of open and constructive communication in a team is recommended.

Outcomes in Patients Perceived as Receiving Excessive Care by ICU Physicians and Nurses: Differences Between Patients < 75 and ≥ 75 Years of Age?

BACKGROUND: The benefit of the ICU for older patients is often debated. There is little knowledge on subjective impressions of excessive care in ICU nurses and physicians combined with objective patient data in real-life cases. RESEARCH QUESTION: Is there a difference in treatment limitation decisions and 1-year outcomes in patients < 75 and ≥ 75 years of age, with and without concordant perceptions of excessive care by two or more ICU nurses and physicians? STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: This was a reanalysis of the prospective observational DISPROPRICUS study, performed in 56 ICUs. Nurses and physicians completed a daily questionnaire about the appropriateness of care for each of their patients during a 28-day period in 2014. We compared the cumulative incidence of patients with concordant perceptions of excessive care, treatment limitation decisions, and the proportion of patients attaining the combined end point (death, poor quality of life, or not being at home) at 1 year across age groups via Cox regression with propensity score weighting and Fisher exact tests. RESULTS: Of 1,641 patients, 405 (25%) were ≥ 75 years of age. The cumulative incidence of concordant perceptions of excessive care was higher in older patients (13.6% vs 8.5%; P < .001). In patients with concordant perceptions of excessive care, we found no difference between age groups in risk of death (1-year mortality, 83% in both groups; P > .99; hazard ratio [HR] after weighting, 1.11; 95% CI, 0.74-1.65), treatment limitation decisions (33% vs 31%; HR after weighting, 1.11; 95% CI, 0.69-2.17), and reaching the combined end point at 1 year (90% vs 93%; P = .546). In patients without concordant perceptions of excessive care, we found a difference in risk of death (1-year mortality, 41% vs 30%; P < .001; HR after weighting, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.11-1.73) and treatment limitation decisions (11% vs 5%; P < .001; HR, 2.11; 95% CI, 1.37-3.27); however, treatment limitation decisions were mostly documented prior to ICU admission. The risk of reaching the combined end point was higher in the older adults (61.6% vs 52.8%; P < .001). INTERPRETATION: Although the incidence of perceptions of excessive care is slightly higher in older patients, there is no difference in treatment limitation decisions and 1-year outcomes between older and younger patients once patients are identified by concordant perceptions of excessive care. Additionally, in patients without concordant perceptions, the outcomes are worse in the older adults, pleading against ageism in ICU nurses and physicians.

Coaching doctors to improve ethical decision-making in adult hospitalised patients potentially receiving excessive treatment: Study protocol for a stepped wedge cluster randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Fast medical progress poses a significant challenge to doctors, who are asked to find the right balance between life-prolonging and palliative care. Literature indicates room for enhancing openness to discuss ethical sensitive issues within and between teams, and improving decision-making for benefit of the patient at end-of-life. METHODS: Stepped wedge cluster randomized trial design, run across 10 different departments of the Ghent University Hospital between January 2022 and January 2023. Dutch speaking adult patients and one of their relatives will be included for data collection. All 10 departments were randomly assigned to start a 4-month coaching period. Junior and senior doctors will be coached through observation and debrief by a first coach of the interdisciplinary meetings and individual coaching by the second coach to enhance self-reflection and empowering leadership and managing group dynamics with regard to ethical decision-making. Nurses, junior doctors and senior doctors anonymously report perceptions of excessive treatment via the electronic patient file. Once a patient is identified by two or more different clinicians, an email is sent to the second coach and the doctor in charge of the patient. All nurses, junior and senior doctors will be invited to fill out the ethical decision making climate questionnaire at the start and end of the 12-months study period. Primary endpoints are (1) incidence of written do-not-intubate and resuscitate orders in patients potentially receiving excessive treatment and (2) quality of ethical decision-making climate. Secondary endpoints are patient and family well-being and reports on quality of care and communication; and clinician well-being. Tertiairy endpoints are quantitative and qualitative data of doctor leadership quality. DISCUSSION: This is the first randomized control trial exploring the effects of coaching doctors in self-reflection and empowering leadership, and in the management of team dynamics, with regard to ethical decision-making about patients potentially receiving excessive treatment.

Perceptions of appropriateness of care among European and Israeli intensive care unit nurses and physicians.

CONTEXT: Clinicians in intensive care units (ICUs) who perceive the care they provide as inappropriate experience moral distress and are at risk for burnout. This situation may jeopardize patient quality of care and increase staff turnover. OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of perceived inappropriateness of care among ICU clinicians and to identify patient-related situations, personal characteristics, and work-related characteristics associated with perceived inappropriateness of care. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Cross-sectional evaluation on May 11, 2010, of 82 adult ICUs in 9 European countries and Israel. Participants were 1953 ICU nurses and physicians providing bedside care. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Perceived inappropriateness of care, defined as a specific patient-care situation in which the clinician acts in a manner contrary to his or her personal and professional beliefs, as assessed using a questionnaire designed for the study. RESULTS: Of 1651 respondents (median response rate, 93% overall; interquartile range, 82%-100% [medians 93% among nurses and 100% among physicians]), perceived inappropriateness of care in at least 1 patient was reported by 439 clinicians overall (27%; 95% CI, 24%-29%), 300 of 1218 were nurses (25%), 132 of 407 were physicians (32%), and 26 had missing answers describing job title. Of these 439 individuals, 397 reported 445 situations associated with perceived inappropriateness of care. The most common reports were perceived disproportionate care (290 situations [65%; 95% CI, 58%-73%], of which "too much care" was reported in 89% of situations, followed by "other patients would benefit more" (168 situations [38%; 95% CI, 32%-43%]). Independently associated with perceived inappropriateness of care rates both among nurses and physicians were symptom control decisions directed by physicians only (odds ratio [OR], 1.73; 95% CI, 1.17-2.56; P = .006); involvement of nurses in end-of-life decision making (OR, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.60-0.96; P = .02); good collaboration between nurses and physicians (OR, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.56-0.92; P = .009); and freedom to decide how to perform work-related tasks (OR, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.59-0.89; P = .002); while a high perceived workload was significantly associated among nurses only (OR, 1.49; 95% CI, 1.07-2.06; P = .02). Perceived inappropriateness of care was independently associated with higher intent to leave a job (OR, 1.65; 95% CI, 1.04-2.63; P = .03). In the subset of 69 ICUs for which patient data could be linked, clinicians reported received inappropriateness of care in 207 patients, representing 23% (95% CI, 20%-27%) of 883 ICU beds. CONCLUSION: Among a group of European and Israeli ICU clinicians, perceptions of inappropriate care were frequently reported and were inversely associated with factors indicating good teamwork.

Outcome of cancer patients considered for intensive care unit admission in two university hospitals in the Netherlands: the danger of delayed ICU admissions and off-hour triage decisions.

BACKGROUND: Very few studies assessed the association between Intensive Care Unit (ICU) triage decisions and mortality. The aim of this study was to assess whether an association could be found between 30-day mortality, and ICU admission consultation conditions and triage decisions. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study in two large referral university hospitals in the Netherlands. We identified all adult cancer patients for whom ICU admission was requested from 2016 to 2019. Via a multivariable logistic regression analysis, we assessed the association between 30-day mortality, and ICU admission consultation conditions and triage decisions. RESULTS: Of the 780 cancer patients for whom ICU admission was requested, 332 patients (42.6%) were considered 'too well to benefit' from ICU admission, 382 (49%) patients were immediately admitted to the ICU and 66 patients (8.4%) were considered 'too sick to benefit' according to the consulting intensivist(s). The 30-day mortality in these subgroups was 30.1%, 36.9% and 81.8%, respectively. In the patient group considered 'too well to benefit', 258 patients were never admitted to the ICU and 74 patients (9.5% of the overall study population, 22.3% of the patients 'too well to benefit') were admitted to the ICU after a second ICU admission request (delayed ICU admission). Thirty-day mortality in these groups was 25.6% and 45.9%. After adjustment for confounders, ICU consultations during off-hours (OR 1.61, 95% CI 1.09-2.38, p-value 0.02) and delayed ICU admission (OR 1.83, 95% CI 1.00-3.33, p-value 0.048 compared to "ICU admission") were independently associated with 30-day mortality. CONCLUSION: The ICU denial rate in our study was high (51%). Sixty percent of the ICU triage decisions in cancer patients were made during off-hours, and 22.3% of the patients initially considered "too well to benefit" from ICU admission were subsequently admitted to the ICU. Both decisions during off-hours and a delayed ICU admission were associated with an increased risk of death at 30 days. Our study suggests that in cancer patients, ICU triage decisions should be discussed during on-hours, and ICU admission policy should be broadened, with a lower admission threshold for critically ill cancer patients.

Attributable Mortality of Ventilator-associated Pneumonia. Replicating Findings, Revisiting Methods.

Rationale: Estimating the impact of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) from routinely collected intensive care unit (ICU) data is methodologically challenging.Objectives: We aim to replicate earlier findings of limited VAP-attributable ICU mortality in an independent cohort. By refining statistical analyses, we gradually tackle different sources of bias.Methods: Records of 2,720 adult patients admitted to Ghent University Hospital ICUs (2013-2017) and receiving mechanical ventilation within 48 hours after admission were extracted from linked Intensive Care Information System and Computer-based Surveillance and Alerting of Nosocomial Infections, Antimicrobial Resistance, and Antibiotic Consumption in the ICU databases. The VAP-attributable fraction of ICU mortality was estimated using a competing risk analysis that is restricted to VAP-free patients (approach 1), accounts for VAP onset by treating it as either a competing (approach 2) or censoring event (approach 3), or additionally adjusts for time-dependent confounding via inverse probability weighting (approach 4).Results: A total of 210 patients (7.7%) acquired VAP. Based on benchmark approach 4, we estimated that (compared with current preventive measures) hypothetical eradication of VAP would lead to a relative ICU mortality reduction of 1.7% (95% confidence interval, -1.3 to 4.6) by Day 10 and of 3.6% (95% confidence interval, 0.7 to 6.5) by Day 60. Approaches 1-3 produced estimates ranging from -0.7% to 2.5% by Day 10 and from 5.2% to 5.5% by Day 60.Conclusions: In line with previous studies using appropriate methodology, we found limited VAP-attributable ICU mortality given current state-of-the-art VAP prevention measures. Our study illustrates that inappropriate accounting of the time dependency of exposure and confounding of its effects may misleadingly suggest protective effects of early-onset VAP and systematically overestimate attributable mortality.

Assessment of mortality and performance status in critically ill cancer patients: A retrospective cohort study.

INTRODUCTION: Given clinicians' frequent concerns about unfavourable outcomes, Intensive Care Unit (ICU) triage decisions in acutely ill cancer patients can be difficult, as clinicians may have doubts about the appropriateness of an ICU admission. To aid to this decision making, we studied the survival and performance status of cancer patients 2 years following an unplanned ICU admission. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study in a large tertiary referral university hospital in the Netherlands. We categorized all adult patients with an unplanned ICU admission in 2017 into two groups: patients with or without an active malignancy. Descriptive statistics, Pearson's Chi-square tests and the Mann-Whitney U tests were used to evaluate the primary objective 2-year mortality and performance status. A good performance status was defined as ECOG performance status 0 (fully active) or 1 (restricted in physically strenuous activity but ambulatory and able to carry out light work). A multivariable binary logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with 2-year mortality within cancer patients. RESULTS: Of the 1046 unplanned ICU admissions, 125 (12%) patients had cancer. The 2-year mortality in patients with cancer was significantly higher than in patients without cancer (72% and 42.5%, P <0.001). The median performance status at 2 years in cancer patients was 1 (IQR 0-2). Only an ECOG performance status of 2 (OR 8.94; 95% CI 1.21-65.89) was independently associated with 2-year mortality. CONCLUSIONS: In our study, the majority of the survivors have a good performance status 2 years after ICU admission. However, at that point, three-quarter of these cancer patients had died, and mortality in cancer patients was significantly higher than in patients without cancer. ICU admission decisions in acutely ill cancer patients should be based on performance status, severity of illness and long-term prognosis, and this should be communicated in the shared decision making. An ICU admission decision should not solely be based on the presence of a malignancy.