End-of-life use of antibiotics: a survey on how doctors decide

Infections are the main complications in terminal diseases. Many patients die using antibiotics, which raises questions about their real usefulness and role in unnecessary prolongation of suffering. This survey evaluated how doctors use antibiotics in palliative care.

From June to August of 2016, an online survey was conducted with 224 doctors who provide palliative care. They had to decide whether to initiate antibiotics in fictitious scenarios involving patients with suspected infections (urinary tract infection, pneumonia, sepsis) in end-of-life (from cancer, dementia, malignant stroke with sequelae, advanced COPD, multiple organ failure). Then, they had to decide whether to stop, maintain, or extend antibiotics after non-response in 72 hours.

88-100% of doctors decided to initiate antibiotics in all situations, except in advanced dementia (45%), and most of them decided to maintain/extend antibiotics inadequately. Factors associated with maintaining/extending antibiotics inadequately were: longer time since graduation (over 13 years; significant in all 7 clinical situations; OR range: 2.45-10.11), and not having formal specialization in palliative care (statistically significant in 3 of 7 situations).

Most palliative care physicians in this study decided to initiate and maintain/extend antibiotics at the end-of-life.