Table 1 Pulmonologists’ and palliative care physicians’ characteristics
Study population (n = 457) | Pulmonologists (n = 202) | Palliative care physicians (n = 255) | p | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Female gender | 256 (56.0) | 102 (50.5) | 154 (60.4) | 0.034 |
Age (years) | 45.6 ± 12.1 | 44.3 ± 12.3 | 46.6 ± 11.8 | 0.040 |
Status of physicians | ||||
Senior practitioner | 437 (95.6) | 188 (93.1) | 249 (97.6) | 0.018 |
Professor | 20 (4.4) | 14 (6.9) | 6 (2.4) | |
Training in palliative care | 284 (62.1) | 29 (14.4) | 255 (100.0) | < 0.001 |
Training in NIV | 161 (35.2) | 138 (68.3) | 23 (9.0) | < 0.001 |
Training in NIV and palliative care | 44 (9.6) | 21 (10.4) | 23 (9.0) | 0.62 |
Opinion in favour of maintaining NIV | 88 (19.3) | 57 (28.2) | 31 (12.2) | < 0.001 |
Experience of NIV use at EOL with palliative sedation | 277 (60.6) | 133 (65.8) | 144 (56.5) | 0.042 |
Doctor uneasy in deciding to withdraw NIV | 145/277 (52.3) | 88/133 (66.2) | 57/144 (39.6) | < 0.001 |
Personal ethics support maintaining NIV | 71 (15.5) | 39 (19.3) | 32 (12.5) | 0.048 |
Spending time looking for AD in the patient’s file | 394 (86.2) | 161 (79.7) | 233 (91.4) | < 0.001 |