Withholding or withdrawing of life-sustaining therapy in older adults (≥ 80 years) admitted to the intensive care unit
PURPOSE: To document and analyse the decision to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment (LST) in a population of very old patients admitted to the ICU. METHODS: This prospective study included intensive care patients aged ≥ 80 years in 309 ICUs from 21 European countries with 30-day mortality follow-up. RESULTS: LST limitation was identified in 1356/5021 (27.2%) of patients: 15% had a withholding decision and 12.2% a withdrawal decision (including those with a previous withholding decision). Patients with LST limitation were older, more frail, more severely ill and less frequently electively admitted. Patients with withdrawal of LST were more frequently male and had a longer ICU len…
Correction to: Withholding or withdrawing of life-sustaining therapy in older adults (≥ 80 years) admitted to the intensive care unit (Intensive Care Medicine, (2018), 44, 7, (1027-1038), 10.1007/s00134-018-5196-7)
In the original publication Dr Patrick Meybohm of the Department of Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Therapy, Frankfurt University Hospital, Frankfurt, Germany was inadvertently omitted from the list of investigators.