Department Neonatology, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel.
Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
J Perinatol. 2018 Aug;38(8):1101-1105. doi: 10.1038/s41372-018-0102-2. Epub 2018 May 8.
In 2005, the Israeli parliament passed the "law of dying patients" legalizing life and death decisions (do not resuscitate) in patients with life expectancy less than 6 months.
To determine whether ethnic and religious backgrounds (both religion and religiosity) influence neonatologists' attitudes in simulated clinical situations and opinions about the new law.
DESIGN/METHODS: Prospective design, using standard questionnaire sent to all 155 board-certified practising Israeli Neonatologists. The questionnaire sought demographic and descriptive data, personal opinions regarding four simulated cases, and opinions about five statements regarding variables that may influence decision-making. Statistical analyses were by stepwise backward regression analysis, linear regression, and Kruskal-Wallis tests, wherever indicated.
Sixty-nine percent of the neonatologists replied, representing 27 NICUs out of the 29 NICUs in Israel. Most neonatologists would respect the wish of the family as long as it would be within the limits of the law or their personal beliefs. In stepwise regression analysis, religion, religiosity, age, gender, experience, or country of training did not influence significantly the neonatologists' opinions or their decisions in simulated practice. Most neonatologists felt that Ethical Committees had no role in NICUs and were seldom consulted. Most felt that likelihood of severe handicap was critical in decision-making. Issues related to treatment cost of a handicapped or dying infant, as well as impact of a handicapped infant on family's well-being, were not deemed critical.
Israeli neonatologists appear to be a relatively homogeneous group in end-of-life decisions, regardless of their ethnic, religious, or religiosity background.
2005 年，以色列议会通过了“濒死病人法”，使预期寿命不足 6 个月的患者的生死决定（不复苏）合法化。
确定民族和宗教背景（宗教和宗教信仰）是否会影响新生儿科医生在模拟临床情况下的态度以及对新法律的看法。
设计/方法：前瞻性设计，向所有 155 名经董事会认证的以色列新生儿科医生发送标准问卷。该问卷寻求人口统计学和描述性数据、对四个模拟案例的个人意见，以及对五个可能影响决策的变量的陈述的意见。统计分析采用逐步向后回归分析、线性回归和 Kruskal-Wallis 检验（如有需要）。
69%的新生儿科医生做出了回应，代表了以色列 29 个新生儿重症监护病房中的 27 个。只要符合法律或个人信仰的限制，大多数新生儿科医生都会尊重家属的意愿。在逐步回归分析中，宗教、宗教信仰、年龄、性别、经验或培训国家并没有显著影响新生儿科医生的意见或他们在模拟实践中的决策。大多数新生儿科医生认为伦理委员会在新生儿重症监护病房中没有作用，很少被咨询。大多数人认为严重残疾的可能性是决策的关键。与残疾或垂死婴儿的治疗费用以及残疾婴儿对家庭幸福的影响相关的问题被认为不是关键问题。
以色列新生儿科医生在临终决策方面似乎是一个相对同质的群体，无论他们的种族、宗教或宗教信仰背景如何。
