title: A survey of physicians' attitudes to transfusion practice in critically ill patients in the UK.
abstract: This study aimed to examine the attitudes of intensivists and haematologists to the use of blood and blood products using a scenario-based postal questionnaire. One hundred and sixty-two intensivists and 77 haematologists responded to the survey. In four scenarios, the baseline haemoglobin thresholds for red cell transfusion ranged from 6 to 12 g.dl(-1). There was significant variation between scenarios (p <0.005). Increasing age, high Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Status II score, surgery, acute respiratory distress syndrome, septic shock and lactic acidosis significantly (p <0.005) modified the transfusion threshold. There were greater variations in the baseline threshold for platelet transfusion. The majority of respondents (72.3%) selected a baseline haemoglobin threshold between 9 and 10 g.dl(-1). The thresholds for platelet transfusion were far less consistent.
authors.affiliation: Havering Hospital, Romford, Essex, UK. harshibora@compuserve.com
authors.forename: Harsha
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Boraless
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Morgan
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Soni
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Goldhill
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Brett
authors.forename: Hari
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Boralessi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Contreras
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016913:Blood Component Transfusion; D003422:Critical Care / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018579:Patient Selection; D017713:Platelet Transfusion; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D012016:Reference Values; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins