Practices of anaesthesiologists with regard to withholding and withdrawal of life support from the critically ill in Turkey.

Abstract

To determine practices of Turkish anaesthesiologists with regard to withholding and withdrawal of life support from the critically ill. An anonymous questionnaire consisting of 18 questions was mailed to 439 members of the Turkish Society of Anaesthesiology and Reanimation. Three hundred and 69 questionnaires were returned (84% response). Over 90% of the respondents indicated that they were Muslim. We found that 66% of respondents had initiated written or oral do-not-resuscitate orders, most frequently after discussion with colleagues (82%). While a number of similarities were found between Turkish anaesthesiologists and those from other countries, some specific differences could be identified, particularly related to consensus decision-making and sharing information with other providers and the value of Ethics Committees in the decision-making process.