Analysis of microbiological tests in patients withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining treatment at the end stage of life in 2 Korean hospitals

Objective: We evaluated the adequacy of microbiological tests in patients withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining treatment (WLST) at the end stage of life. Setting: The study was conducted at 2 tertiary-care referral hospitals in Daegu, Republic of Korea. Design: Retrospective cross-sectional study. Methods: Demographic findings, clinical and epidemiological characteristics, statistics of microbiological tests, and microbial species isolated from patients within 2 weeks before death were collected in 2 tertiary-care referral hospitals from January to December 2018. We also reviewed the antimicrobial treatment that was given within 3 days of microbiological testing in patients on WLST. Results: Of the 1,187 hospitalized patients included, 905 patients (76.2%) had WLST. The number of tests per 1,000 patient days was higher after WLST than before WLST (242.0 vs 202.4). Among the category of microbiological tests, blood cultures were performed most frequently, and their numbers per 1,000 patient days before and after WLST were 95.9 and 99.0, respectively. The positive rates of blood culture before and after WLST were 17.2% and 18.0%, respectively. Candida spp. were the most common microbiological species in sputum (17.4%) and urine (48.2%), and Acinetobacter spp. were the most common in blood culture (17.3%). After WLST determination, 70.5% of microbiological tests did not lead to a change in antibiotic use. Conclusions: Many unnecessary microbiological tests are being performed in patients with WLST within 2 weeks of death. Microbiological testing should be performed carefully and in accordance with the patient's treatment goals.