2010 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Study of the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment and related problems in emergency medicine in Japan
| Project/Area Number |
20601002
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
医療における生命倫理
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| Research Institution | The University of Tokyo |
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Principal Investigator |
KAI Ichiro The University of Tokyo, 大学院・医学系研究科, 教授 (30126023)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
KOIZUMI Takeo 杏林大学, 医学部, 助教 (50419719)
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| Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha) |
AITA Kaoruko 東京大学, 大学院・人文社会系研究科, 特任研究員 (40507810)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2008 – 2010
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| Keywords | 延命治療 / 救急医療 / 脳死 / 人工呼吸器 / 末期医療 / 医療倫理 / 高齢者医療 |
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| Research Abstract |
The question of whether to withdraw mechanical ventilation and other treatment from dying patients remains nearly unexplored in Japan. In 2008-2009, an anonymous, cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted with 2,802 physicians, who were members of the Japanese Association for Acute Medicine. Of them, 928 completed the self-report survey (response rate : 33%). Data showed that mechanical ventilation was rarely withdrawn from brain-dead patients, while other treatment including medication was withdrawn frequently so that a "soft-landing" was created. Mixed reaction was observed to "the double standard of brain death" in Japan, in which brain-dead people are considered dead only when they are organ donor candidates. More respondents appreciated the double standard because it allows discretion regarding when to stop providing medical care to brain-dead people.
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