At a glance
ClinicalIndex Comparison RecordStandardized by ClinicalIndex from the ClinicalTrials.gov record · verify against the source.
Evolution of European Ethical Resuscitation and End-of-Life Practices From 2014 to 2019: A Survey-based Comparative Evaluation
In Brief
An observational study for Terminal Illness and 2 related conditions. Completed, enrolled 84 participants across 2 sites in 2 countries.
Detailed Summary
In 2014, the authors conducted a survey of key opinion leaders on ethical resuscitation practices in 31 European Countries. The authors administered a comprehensive questionnaire to 1-2 "experts" from each country; subjectivity-related bias could not be excluded; however, the questionnaire was actually administered twice over a 6-month period to all participants, in order to confirm results' reproducibility. The questionnaire spanned across the following 4 domains: A: ethical practices (41 questions); B: access to best available care (39 questions); C: death diagnosis and organ donation (22 questions); and D: emergency care organization (40 questions). Accordingly, a 142-point scoring system of the responses of the participants was developed. Country-specific scores varied widely \[e.g. score range of 1-41 for the ethical practices (domain A), and of 9-32 for emergency care organization (domain D)\]. The authors also found a significant association between domain A and domain D scores (r2 = 0.42, P \< 0.001). The results of the 2014 survey highlighted variability across European countries in their approach to the ethics of resuscitation/end-of-life care. Results also indicated the presence of substantial need for improvements in all the aforementioned domains of practice and emergency care organization On the other hand, such evolution should be substantially augmented and accelerated by the above-described combination of new guidelines, RCT-based support of ACP, legislation / governmental policies, and educational activities. With this study the authors undertake a methodologically improved version of the 2014 survey, in order to test the following hypotheses: 1) compared to 2014, there may be significant improvements in overall domain A to D scores for 2019, reflecting improved quality of ethical practice in the field of resuscitation/end-of-life care; 2) such progress, may be more marked in countries with "low" (i.e. below-average) domain A to D scores for 2014.