Medical end-of-life decisions made for neonates and infants in the Netherlands, 1995-2001

A.M. Vrakking, A. van der Heide, B.D. Philipsen, I.M. Keij-Deerenberg, P.J. van der Maas, G. van der Wal

    Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

    Abstract

    End-of-life decision-making for severely affected infants might be influenced by technical advances and societal debates. In 2001, we assessed the proportion of deaths of infants younger than 1 year that were preceded by end-of-life decisions, by replicating a questionnaire study from 1995. This proportion increased from 62% to 68% (weighted percentages), but the difference was not significant. Most of these decisions were to forgo life-sustaining treatment. Decisions to actively end the lives of infants not dependent on life-sustaining treatment remained stable at 1%. The practice of end-of-life decision-making in neonatology of 2001 has changed little since 1995
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1329-1331
    JournalLancet
    Volume365
    Issue number9467
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2005

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