Table 2 Differences in characteristics between physicians with an opinion in favour of maintaining NIV and physicians with an opinion in favour of withdrawing NIV
Withdrawing (n = 369) | Maintaining (n = 88) | p | |
|---|---|---|---|
Female gender | 202 (54.7) | 54 (61.4) | 0.26 |
Age (years) | 45.7 ± 12.1 | 45.0 ± 12.2 | 0.64 |
Status of physicians, | |||
Senior practitioner | 351 (95.1) | 86 (97.7) | 0.39 |
Professor | 18 (4.9) | 2 (2.3) | |
Speciality of physicians | |||
Pulmonologists | 145 (39.3) | 57 (64.8) | < 0.001 |
Palliative care physicians | 224 (60.7) | 31 (35.2) | |
Training in palliative care | 245 (66.4) | 39 (44.3) | < 0.001 |
Training in NIV | 122 (33.1) | 39 (44.3) | 0.047 |
Training in NIV and palliative care | 37 (10.0) | 7 (8.0) | 0.55 |
Experience of NIV use at EOL with palliative sedation | 217 (58.8) | 60 (68.2) | 0.11 |
Doctor uneasy in deciding to withdraw NIV | 105/217 (48.4) | 40/60 (66.7) | 0.012 |
Personal ethics support maintaining NIV | 24 (6.5) | 47 (53.4) | < 0.001 |
Spending time looking for AD in the patient’s file | 310 (84.0) | 84 (95.4) | 0.005 |