Abstract
Objective
To report incidence and characteristics of decisions to forgo life-sustaining therapies (DFLSTs) in the 282 ICUs who contributed to the SAPS3 database.
Methods
We reviewed data on DFLSTs in 14,488 patients. Independent predictors of DFLSTs have been identified by stepwise logistic regression.
Results
DFLSTs occurred in 1,239 (8.6%) patients [677 (54.6%) withholding and 562 (45.4%) withdrawal decisions]. Hospital mortality was 21% (3,050/14,488); 36.2% (1,105) deaths occurred after DFLSTs. Across the participating ICUs, hospital mortality in patients with DFLSTs ranged from 80.3 to 95.4% and time from admission to decisions ranged from 2 to 4 days. Independent predictors of decisions to forgo LSTs included 13 variables associated with increased incidence of DFLSTs and 7 variables associated with decrease incidence of DFLST. Among hospital and ICU-related variables, a higher number of nurses per bed was associated with increased incidence of DFLST, while availability of an emergency department in the same hospital, presence of a full time ICU-specialist and doctors presence during nights and week-ends were associated with a decreased incidence of DFLST.
Conclusion
This large study identifies structural variables that are associated with substantial variations in the incidence and the characteristics of decisions to forgo life-sustaining therapies.

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Acknowledgments
Statistical analysis was supported by a grant from the Fund of the Austrian National Bank, Project # 10995 ONB. We thank the participants from all over the world who dedicated a significant amount of their time and effort to this project, proving that it is still possible to conduct a worldwide academic study. A complete list of participants is found in the web-site of the project (http://www.saps3.org).
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Azoulay, É., Metnitz, B., Sprung, C.L. et al. End-of-life practices in 282 intensive care units: data from the SAPS 3 database. Intensive Care Med 35, 623–630 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00134-008-1310-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00134-008-1310-6