Non-Proportional Medical Interventions at the End of Life in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Colombia

Abstract

Summary:

Purpose: To analyze the interventions carried out in a cohort of patients who died in a university hospital of highcomplexity and define their therapeutic proportionality, based on the study of the prevalence of "non-beneficialtreatments". Methodology: Retrospective descriptive observational study, based on the review of medical records of patients who died in a two-year period in a highly complex university hospital. Results: 931 records of deceased patients were analyzed and categorized according to the criteria of “ therapeutic proportionality ”. It was found that 54.7% of the patients underwent diagnostic or therapeutic interventions classified as “disproportionate” according to the applied definition. Conclusion: In practice, non-proportional or non-beneficial end-of-lifeinterventions are prevalent, which is a major and persistent problem, despite the negative impact on patients,families, health professionals and the health system.

Key words:

Bioethics - Ethics, Medical - Medical Futility - Humanization of Assistance