Table 3.

Attitude in providing EOL care (Questionnaire Part B). (1: strongly disagree, 2: disagree, 3: unsure/mixed, 4: agree, 5: strongly agree)

	Statements	Overall (mean, SD)	EOL group (mean, SD)	Non-EOL group (mean, SD)	P-value (Mann Whitney U test)
1	Palliative and EOL care is an important competence for an emergency medicine physician.	3.34, 0.966	3.62, 0.922	3.14, 0.953	0.004*
2	I have a clear idea of the role of palliative and EOL care in the emergency department.	2.77, 0.936	3.08, 0.944	2.54, 0.867	0.001*
3	Emergency medicine physicians are trained to save lives and not to manage death.	2.45, 1.034	2.07, 0.899	2.72, 1.042	< 0.001*
4	My workplace does not have protocols or services addressing palliative and EOL issues.	2.83, 1.190	1.95, 0.910	3.46, 0.946	< 0.001*
5	I feel comfortable providing palliative and EOL care in the emergency department.	2.75, 1.011	3.32, 0.911	2.35, 0.882	< 0.001*
6	Palliative and EOL care should not be the responsibility of the emergency physician.	2.49, 1.017	2.07, 0.907	2.79, 0.989	< 0.001*
7	Palliative and EOL care should have a lower priority in the busy emergency department.	2.92, 1.131	2.53, 1.127	3.20, 1.056	0.001*
8	There is lack of access to palliative and EOL care specialists/ teams in the emergency department.	3.70, 0.883	3.42, 1.013	3.91, 0.718	0.002*
9	Having no access to communication with palliative care physician affects my ability to provide EOL care in the emergency department.	3.53, 0.842	3.43, 0.767	3.60, 0.889	0.104
10	I have difficulty discussing palliative and EOL issues with patients and/or their families.	3.08, 0.965	2.87, 0.929	3.22, 0.968	0.033*
11	I cannot identify patients who may need palliative and EOL care in the emergency department.	2.64, 0.926	2.45, 0.891	2.78, 0.931	0.035*
12	My lack of training in palliative and EOL care affects my ability to provide this service.	3.46, 0.882	3.27, 0.972	3.59, 0.791	0.046*
13	Fear of lawsuits leads me away from offering palliative and EOL care to potential candidate.	2.88, 0.947	2.65, 0.880	3.05, 0.962	0.016*
14	I do not have sufficient time during my shift to provide palliative and EOL care in the emergency department.	3.73, 0.899	3.62, 1.010	3.81, 0.809	0.296
15	The emergency department is not the best place for EOL discussions	3.30, 1.015	2.93, 1.056	3.55, 0.906	0.001*

Remarks

The role of palliative and EOL care: statements 1–3,6,7

Specific obstacles faced by doctors while providing such care: statements 4,8,9,11–14

The comfort level while providing palliative and EOL care: statements 5 and 10

The overall attitude towards palliative and EOL care: statement 15

ED Emergency Department, EOL end-of-life, SD standard deviation

Asterisk*: p < 0.05