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Survival at the Threshold of Viability: a Nationwide Survey of the Opinions and Attitudes of Physicians in a Developing Country
Author(s) -
Charafeddine Lama,
Ammous Farah,
Kayle Mariam,
Arawi Thalia
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
paediatric and perinatal epidemiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.667
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1365-3016
pISSN - 0269-5022
DOI - 10.1111/ppe.12118
Subject(s) - medicine , family medicine , developing country , economic growth , economics
Background To explore physicians' opinions and attitudes regarding resuscitation of extremely premature infants ( EPIs ) in a developing country with suboptimal resources. Methods A survey was developed, revised, and pilot‐tested. All 964 paediatricians registered in the L ebanese O rder of P hysicians were contacted; physicians involved in resuscitation of EPIs were eligible. Between F ebruary and A pril of 2009, anonymous surveys were mailed to consenting participants. Results Three hundred twenty‐eight eligible physicians agreed to participate. One hundred twenty (36%) returned the survey, 45.3% of which were neonatologists. The vast majority agreed that parents would like to be informed and to participate in the resuscitation decision of an EPI . The majority of physicians considered infants at gestational age of ≤25 weeks (78%) or ≤800 g (89%) as non‐viable. Physician's age, years of practice, and practising neonatal intensive care unit level were significantly associated with the choice of birthweight at which infants were considered non‐viable. Conclusions The majority of surveyed physicians consider infants at gestational age less than or equal to 25 weeks gestation or 800 g at birth as non‐viable, and therefore would not attempt their resuscitation. Factors influencing threshold of viability in developing countries need to be addressed and explored further.