Abstract
Purpose
The effect of capacity strain in an ICU on the timing of end-of-life decision-making is unknown. We sought to determine how changes in strain impact timing of new do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders and of death.
Methods
Retrospective cohort study of 9891 patients dying in the hospital following an ICU stay ≥72 h in Project IMPACT, 2001–2008. We examined the effect of ICU capacity strain (measured by standardized census, proportion of new admissions, and average patient acuity) on time to initiation of DNR orders and time to death for all ICU decedents using fixed-effects linear regression.
Results
Increases in strain were associated with shorter time to DNR for patients with limitations in therapy (predicted time to DNR 6.11 days for highest versus 7.70 days for lowest quintile of acuity, p = 0.02; 6.50 days for highest versus 7.77 days for lowest quintile of admissions, p < 0.001), and shorter time to death (predicted time to death 7.64 days for highest versus 9.05 days for lowest quintile of admissions, p < 0.001; 8.28 days for highest versus 9.06 days for lowest quintile of census, only in closed ICUs, p = 0.006). Time to DNR order significantly mediated relationships between acuity and admissions and time to death, explaining the entire effect of acuity, and 65 % of the effect of admissions. There was no association between strain and time to death for decedents without a limitation in therapy.
Conclusions
Strains in ICU capacity are associated with end-of-life decision-making, with shorter times to placement of DNR orders and death for patients admitted during high-strain days.
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Acknowledgments
Dr. Hua is supported by a Mentored-Training Research Grant from the Foundation in Anesthesia Education and Research. Dr. Halpern is supported by a grant from The Otto Haas Charitable Trust. Nicole B. Gabler: None. Dr. Wunsch is supported by Award Number K08AG038477 from the National Institute On Aging.
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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. The funding sources played no role in the design and conduct of the study, collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data, or preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript.
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Take-home message: Increases in ICU strain are associated with shorter time to placement of treatment limitations and shorter time to death for patients dying in the ICU. These data suggest that physicians are capable of performing more efficiently and expediting the delivery of end-of-life care for critically ill patients.
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Hua, M., Halpern, S.D., Gabler, N.B. et al. Effect of ICU strain on timing of limitations in life-sustaining therapy and on death. Intensive Care Med 42, 987–994 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00134-016-4240-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00134-016-4240-8