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Home › Research › End-of-life care

ESPEN guideline on ethical aspects of artificial nutrition and hydration

Druml C, Ballmer PE, Druml W, Oehmichen F, Shenkin A, Singer P, Soeters P, Weimann A et al.. Clinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland), 2016-02-16

This page is alzhub.org's plain-English summary of a published study, not the paper itself. It is generated from the record we hold for this study, sourced and linked below — check the original for the full text and methods.

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 36 out of 100. End-of-life care

Topic: Health services, long-term care and technology

Background The worldwide debate over the use of artificial nutrition and hydration remains controversial although the scientific and medical facts are unequivocal. Artificial nutrition and hydration are a medical intervention, requiring an indication, a therapeutic goal and the will (consent) of the competent patient. Methods The guideline was developed by an international multidisciplinary working group based on the main aspects of the Guideline on "Ethical and Legal Aspects of Artificial Nutrition" published 2013 by the German Society for Nutritional Medicine (DGEM) after conducting a review of specific current literature. The text was extended and introduced a broader view in particular on the impact of culture and religion. The results were discussed at the ESPEN Congress in Lisbon 2015 and accepted in an online survey among ESPEN members. Results The ESPEN Guideline on Ethical Aspects of Artificial Nutrition and Hydration is focused on the adult patient and provides a critical summary for physicians and caregivers. Special consideration is given to end of life issues and palliative medicine; to dementia and to specific situations like nursing care or the intensive care unit. The respect for autonomy is an important focus of the guideline as well as the careful wording to be used in the communication with patients and families. The other principles of Bioethics like beneficence, non-maleficence and justice are presented in the context of artificial nutrition and hydration. In this respect the withholding and withdrawing of artificial nutrition and/or hydration is discussed. Due to increasingly multicultural societies and the need for awareness of different values and beliefs an elaborated chapter is dedicated to cultural and religious issues and nutrition. Last but not least topics like voluntary refusal of nutrition and fluids, and forced feeding of competent persons (persons on hunger strike) is included in the guideline.

Key findings

Study details

How this study scored 36/100
How this study's score is builtJournal tier 7 of 10; Journal's citation record left out, no data; Study design 0 of 12; Strength of evidence 1 of 5; Peer-review validation 10 of 10; How recent 1 of 5; Sample size 0 of 4; Effect reported 0 of 3; Studied in people 0 of 3; Randomised / blinded 0 of 2; Times cited left out, no data; Citations per year left out, no data; Impact for its field and year left out, no data; Cited by studies here left out, no data; Still being cited left out, no data; Senior author's track record left out, no data; Institution's track record left out, no data; Multi-centre collaboration left out, no data; Indexed in PubMed 2 of 2; Free to read 0 of 2. 21 of the 58 points it could be judged on, which is 36 of 100. Total 36 of 100.21 of the 58 points we could judge = 36 of 100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 21 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 36 out of 100.

ComponentPointsWhy
Journal tier 7 / 10 Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Clinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland))
Journal's citation record — / 4 No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score
Study design 0 / 12 No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Strength of evidence 1 / 5 Rated “low” in our summary
Peer-review validation 10 / 10 Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal.
How recent 1 / 5 2016 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size 0 / 4 Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Effect reported 0 / 3 No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Studied in people 0 / 3 Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Randomised / blinded 0 / 2 No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Times cited — / 7 No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score
Citations per year — / 5 No citation count or no year — left out of this score
Impact for its field and year — / 6 No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score
Cited by studies here — / 6 Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score
Still being cited — / 4 No yearly citation counts — left out of this score
Senior author's track record — / 4 Senior author's record not available — left out of this score
Institution's track record — / 3 No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score
Multi-centre collaboration — / 3 Institutions not listed — left out of this score
Indexed in PubMed 2 / 2 Indexed in PubMed (PMID 26923519)
Free to read 0 / 2 Behind a paywall — scores zero
Points 21 / 58 Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 21 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 36 out of 100.
Total 36 / 100 —

What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →

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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.

APA 7th

Druml, C., Ballmer, P. E., Druml, W., Oehmichen, F., Shenkin, A., Singer, P., et al. (2016). ESPEN guideline on ethical aspects of artificial nutrition and hydration. Clinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2016.02.006

Vancouver

Druml C, Ballmer PE, Druml W, Oehmichen F, Shenkin A, Singer P, et al. ESPEN guideline on ethical aspects of artificial nutrition and hydration. Clinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland). 2016. doi:10.1016/j.clnu.2016.02.006. PMID: 26923519.

BibTeX

@article{druml2016-26923519,
  author  = {Druml, C. and Ballmer, P. E. and Druml, W. and Oehmichen, F. and Shenkin, A. and Singer, P. and Soeters, P. and Weimann, A. and others},
  title   = {{ESPEN guideline on ethical aspects of artificial nutrition and hydration}},
  journal = {Clinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland)},
  year    = {2016},
  doi     = {10.1016/j.clnu.2016.02.006},
  pmid    = {26923519},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2016.02.006}
}

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