Dying in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU): A Retrospective Descriptive Analysis of Deaths in the ICU in a Communal Tertiary Hospital in Germany

Table 3

Therapy withholding at end-of-life versus sex, age and advance directive. Numbers are shown as absolute numbers n and percentage (%) of all patients dying in ICU/IMC or as percentage of patients in the subgroup, e.g., all female patients or all patients between 50 and 59 years old.

			Therapy withholding?
		n	Withholding?		IV	NIV	RRT	Catecholamines	DNR
	Yes	489	297	Yes	121	40	71	66	222
					24.7%	8.2%	14.5%	13.5%	45.4%
			60.7%	n. expl. m.	77	87	156	141	68
					15.7%	17.8%	31.9%	28.8%	13.9%
	No		192		291	362	262	282	199
			39.3%		59.5%	74.0%	53.6%	57.7%	40.7%
Sex	Male	266	147	Yes	58	19	36	32	113
					21.8%	7.1%	13.5%	12.0%	42.5%
			55.3%	n. expl. m.	40	44	75	68	30
					15.0%	16.5%	28.2%	25.6%	11.3%
	Female	223	150	Yes	63	21	35	34	109
					28.3%	9.4%	15.7%	15.2%	48.9%
			67.3%	n. expl. m.	37	43	81	73	38
					16.6%	19.3%	36.3%	32.7%	17.0%
Age (years)	18–29	4	1	Yes	1	1	0	0	1
					25.0%	25.0%	0.0%	0.0%	25.0%
			25.0%	n. expl. m.	0	0	1	1	0
					0.0%	0.0%	25.0%	25.0%	0.0%
	30–39	5	1	Yes	0	0	0	0	1
					0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	20.0%
			20.0%	n. expl. m.	1	1	1	1	0
					20.0%	20.0%	20.0%	20.0%	0.0%
	40–49	19	6	Yes	2	0	2	2	6
					10.5%	0.0%	10.5%	10.5%	31.6%
			31.6%	n. expl. m.	0	0	2	3	0
					0.0%	0.0%	10.5%	15.8%	0.0%
	50–59	34	17	Yes	2	0	2	4	10
					5.9%	0.0%	5.9%	11.8%	29.4%
			50.0%	n. expl. m.	3	3	10	7	6
					8.8%	8.8%	29.4%	20.6%	17.6%
	60–69	75	40	Yes	18	6	14	11	32
					24.0%	8.0%	18.7%	14.7%	42.7%
			53.3%	n. expl. m.	5	5	15	16	4
					6.7%	6.7%	20.0%	21.3%	5.3%
	70–79	163	92	Yes	38	10	19	22	73
					23.3%	6.1%	11.7%	13.5%	44.8%
			56.4%	n. expl. m.	19	26	46	39	18
					11.7%	16.0%	28.2%	23.9%	11.0%
	80–89	161	113	Yes	49	16	26	20	81
					30.4%	9.9%	16.1%	12.4%	50.3%
			70.2%	n. expl. m.	36	38	64	58	31
					22.4%	23.6%	39.8%	36.0%	19.3%
	≥90	28	27	Yes	11	7	8	6	18
					39.3%	25.0%	28.6%	21.4%	64.3%
			96.4%	n. expl. m.	13	14	17	16	9
					46.4%	50.0%	60.7%	57.1%	32.1%
Advance directive?	Yes	57	52	Yes	20	8	14	9	38
					35.1%	14.0%	24.6%	15.8%	66.7%
			91.2%	n. expl. m.	18	21	31	27	13
					31.6%	36.8%	54.4%	47.4%	22.8%
	No	432	245	Yes	101	32	57	57	184
					23.4%	7.4%	13.2%	13.2%	42.6%
			56.7%	n. expl. m.	59	66	125	114	55
					13.7%	15.3%	28.9%	26.4%	12.7%