Table 3.
Number and proportion (%) of physicians deciding to withhold an intervention in the patient scenario according to physician groups
| Treatment | Scenario | Competency in PM | Surgeons | Internists | GPs | Oncologists | P-valuea | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blood transfusion | Original scenario | 60 | (91) | 98 | (70)* | 108 | (72)* | 185 | (76)* | 72 | (78)* | 0.011 |
| Family’s appeal | 55 | (85) | 90 | (64)* | 85 | (56)** | 153 | (64)* | 67 | (76) | < 0.001 | |
| Advance directive | 66 | (99) | 132 | (94) | 136 | (91) | 227 | (94) | 90 | (98) | 0.134 | |
| Pleural drainage | Original scenario | 43 | (65) | 59 | (42)* | 85 | (56) | 99 | (41)** | 58 | (64) | < 0.001 |
| Family’s appeal | 41 | (63) | 57 | (40)* | 73 | (49) | 89 | (37)** | 51 | (56) | < 0.001 | |
| Advance directive | 53 | (79) | 103 | (73) | 119 | (80) | 179 | (74) | 82 | (89) | 0.030 | |
| Chest X-ray | Original scenario | 51 | (77) | 66 | (47)** | 88 | (58)* | 119 | (60)** | 67 | (73) | < 0.001 |
| Family’s appeal | 44 | (67) | 61 | (43)* | 74 | (49)* | 29 | (38)** | 59 | (65) | < 0.001 | |
| Advance directive | 59 | (88) | 111 | (79) | 124 | (83) | 194 | (81) | 90 | (98)* | 0.001 | |
| Laboratory tests | Original scenario | 49 | (74) | 70 | (59)* | 87 | (57)* | 121 | (50)* | 59 | (64) | 0.002 |
| Family’s appeal | 40 | (61) | 60 | (43)* | 67 | (45)* | 85 | (35)** | 51 | (56) | < 0.001 | |
| Advance directive | 58 | (87) | 115 | (81) | 119 | (78) | 190 | (78) | 88 | (96)* | 0.006 | |
PM, Palliative Medicine, GP, General Practitioner
aGlobal p-value across all physician groups
*p < 0.05 and **p < 0.001 pair-wise comparison to physicians with special competency in PM