title: Child neurologists as health care surrogate for imperiled children.
abstract: We explored child neurologists' attitudes toward taking on the role of health care surrogate for terminally ill children. Physician members of the Child Neurology Society were sent a 16-question survey via email. Of the assumed 1050 recipients, 116 (11%) answered the questionnaire. Most individuals who have been in practice less than 11 years indicated having received formal end-of-life decision-making education either during medical school or residency. Conversely, a minority of participants who have been in practice more than 11 years indicated having received such education. Regardless of years in practice, 54% (n = 61 of 112) of participants would feel at least ''somewhat comfortable'' independently making life-limiting decisions for imperiled patients. The number increased to 80% if the decision were made within the context of a multidisciplinary team. Taking our data and the experience published by others into consideration, we suggest a method for establishing such a team.
authors.affiliation: Division of Child Neurology, Nationwide Children's Hospital, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43205, USA. weisleder.1@osu.edu
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Weisleder
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Perkins
authors.forename: Aevan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: McLaughlin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003657:Decision Making; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019988:Children with Disabilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009462:Neurology; D010372:Pediatrics; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires