How accurate is the ‘Surprise Question’ at identifying patients at the end of life? A systematic review and meta-analysis

White, Nicola; Kupeli, Nuriye; Vickerstaff, Victoria; Stone, Patrick

doi:10.1186/s12916-017-0907-4

Table 2 Detail of the studies included in the review

From: How accurate is the ‘Surprise Question’ at identifying patients at the end of life? A systematic review and meta-analysis

First author	Year	Country	Time frame of SQ	Diagnosis	Clinician	Location/setting	Total	Patient age (Mean, SD)	Patient Sex (M:F)	Mean QS (/ 9)
Amro [18]	2016	USA	12 months	End-stage renal failure	Nephrologists	Dialysis unit/hospital	201	66	105:46	6.5
Barnes [35]	2008	UK	12 months	Heart failure	General practitioners	General practice	231	77 (71–82)^c	120:111	4.5^h
Carmen^a [19]	2016	Spain	12 months	End stage renal failure	Medical staff	HD unit	49	NR	NR	5.0^h
Cohen [20]	2010	USA	6 months	End-stage renal failure	Nephrologists	HD 5 units	450^b	61 (17)	285:225	8.0
Da Silva [40]	2013	UK	12 months	End-stage renal failure	Nurses and Nephrologists	HD units	344	63.6 (15.5)	221:123	6.5
Fenning [30]	2012	UK	6–12 months	Heart failure	Clinical team	Hospital cardiology unit	172	66	105:67	9.0
Feyi [21]	2015	UK	6–12 months	End-stage renal failure	Consultant renal physician, consultant in palliative medicine and renal nursing staff	Dialysis unit/hospital	178	NR	48:22	6.0
Gardiner [36]	2013	UK	12 months	Any diagnosis	Doctor (Nursing Staff)	Acute hospital	297	78^d	136:161	5.5
Reid^a [43]	2012	UK	during this admission	Any diagnosis	Nursing staff	5 wards and 2 specialist palliative care beds	6703	80.6 (11.2)	20:40 (partial)	5.0^h
Gopinathan^a [31]	2016	India	6 months	End-stage renal failure	Principal investigator	Tertiary care hospital	39	NR	NR	5.0^h
Haga [15]	2012	UK	6–12 months	Heart failure	Specialist heart failure nurse	Hospital community-based patients	138	77 (10)	91:47	7.5
Halbe^a [22]	2015	Germany	12 months	Cancer	Medical staff	Haematology and oncology outpatient clinic	651	NR	NR	5.5
Hamano [23]	2015	Japan	7 days	Cancer	Palliative care physicians’	16 palliative care units, 19 hospital-based palliative care teams, and 23 home-based palliative care services	2361	69.1 (12.6)	1358:1003	6.5
Johnson [37]	2012	UK	12 months	Heart failure	Heart failure nurse	Cardiology palliative care team	126	78 (10.7)^e	78:47	5.5
Khan^a [44]	2014	USA	6 months	Any diagnosis	Intensivists	Medical intensive care unit	500	NR	NR	3.0^h
Lefkowits^a [38]	2015	USA	12 months	Cancer	Physicians, advanced practice providers, 4 nurses	Academic institution	263	NR	0:263	5.5
Lilley [39]	2016	USA	12 month	Any diagnosis	Surgeons	Tertiary care academic hospital	163	NR	78:85	7.5
Moroni [25]	2014	Italy	12 months	Cancer	General practitioners	GPs	231	70.2 (0.9)	117:114	8.5
Moss [27]	2008	USA	12 months	End-stage renal failure	Nurse practitioner	3 HD units	147	66.4 (14.8)	NR	7.5
Moss [26]	2010	USA	12 months	Cancer	Oncologists	Academic cancer centre	826	60 (13)	126:727	7.5
O'Callaghan [28]	2014	New Zealand	6 months	Any diagnosis	Two expert palliative care clinicians (doctor and a nurse)	Tertiary New Zealand teaching hospital	501	NR	47:50^g	7.0
Pang [29]	2013	Hong Kong	12 months	End-stage renal failure	Nephrologists	Dialysis centre	367	60.2 (12.3)	204:163	6.5
South^a [32]	2011	UK	6–12 months	COPD	Clinician	Nurse-led unit for COPD	199	70 (37–93)^f	92:107	4.5^h
Strout^a [42]	2016	USA	30 days	Sepsis	Emergency physicians	Emergency Dept	330	NR	181:149	4.5^h
Thiagarajan [33]	2012	UK	12 months	Any diagnosis	Doctor, nurse, physiotherapist and occupational therapist	Inpatient of an acute/geriatric medical ward	130	80.7 (18–104)^f	55:75	7.5
Vick^a [34]	2015	USA	12 months	Cancer	Oncology clinicians	Cancer centre	4617	NR	NR	3.0^h

^aAbstract
^bOut of a total sample of 512, 450 had a response to the SQ
^cMedian (IQR)
^dMedian
^eMean number of days (IQR)
^fRange
^gIncluded one transgender and one unknown
^hExcluded for sensitivity analysis
COPD chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, NR not reported

Back to article page

ISSN: 1741-7015

Contact us

Submission enquiries: bmcmedicineeditorial@biomedcentral.com
General enquiries: info@biomedcentral.com

BMC Medicine

Contact us