" Surprise Question " Performs Poorly to Predict Death

New research in the CMAJ shows that the commonly used "surprise question" does not work well. The surprise question is intended to be a simple and feasible screening test to identify patients with hospice and palliative care needs.  It involves a clinician reflecting on the question, “Would I be surprised if this patient died in the next 12 months?” But the surprise question performs poorly to modestly when used to predict death at 6 to 18  months, with even poorer performance among patients with non-cancer illness. The authors conclude that the surprise question should not be used as a stand-alone prognostic tool.
Source: blog.bioethics.net - Category: Medical Ethics Authors: Tags: Health Care syndicated Source Type: blogs