Many critically ill patients who die will do so after a decision has been made to withhold/withdraw life-sustaining therapy. Our objective was to document the characteristics of intensive care unit (ICU) patients with a decision to withhold/withdraw life-sustaining treatment, including the types of supportive treatments used, patterns of organ dysfunction, and international differences, including gross national income (GNI).

There is considerable worldwide variability in decisions to withhold/withdraw life-sustaining treatments. Interestingly, almost one-third of patients with a decision to withhold/withdraw life-sustaining treatment left the hospital alive.

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