Analysis of the quality of dying and death in end-stage intensive care unit patients in China: A single-center cross-sectional study

This study aimed to investigate the quality of dying and death in an end-stage intensive care unit (ICU). We surveyed the quality of death of 99 end-stage ICU patients at a tertiary hospital in Suzhou using the Chinese nurse version of the ICU Quality of Death Questionnaire and a self-developed family version of the Patient Quality of Death Questionnaire. The patients' mean total quality of dying and death score was 44.72 ± 8.20. Moreover, 43.8% of the surveyed family members believed that the patients were peaceful at the end of their life, whereas 34.4% did not, and 21.9% were unsure. Health insurance status showed a significant negative correlation with both the total patient quality of death score (r = -0.205) and the end-of-life care score (r = -0.352). Based on the observational data and limited family interview sample from this study, the overall quality of death for end-stage ICU patients was relatively low. Scores on the quality of dying and death were correlated with patient age and health insurance status; however, these findings require further validation through multi-center, large-sample studies.