TBI-QualE Study

PI: Alexis F. Turgeon

Co-Is: Patrick Archambault, Francis Bernard, Karen Burns, Brian Cuthbertson, Dean Fergusson, Robert Fowler, Donald Griesdale, Jacques Lacroix, François Lamontagne, François Lauzier, France Légaré, Lynne Moore, John Muscedere, Damon Scales, Janet Squires, Ryan Zarychanski

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the leading cause of death and severe disabilities among adults under 45 years of age. The extent of damage is sometimes so important that survivors end up living with severe sequelae and a significantly altered quality of life. In the case of victims who do not survive, death is usually related to the decision made by families and medical teams to withdraw life-sustaining therapies. Since these young patients are usually otherwise healthy and unable to acutely provide consent, the process leading to the decision of withdrawing life-sustaining therapies may raise sensitive ethical issues. The determinants influencing the decision to recommend withdrawing life-sustaining therapies are poorly understood. This research program aims to identify and understand the main determinants influencing intensivists and families in their decision to withdraw life-sustaining therapies in patients with severe TBI. This project also aims to improve the care of victims of severe traumatic brain injury and to ascertain that level-of-care decisions are made based on the best available evidence and in the best interest of the patient.

Centres
CHU de Québec – Université Laval (Québec city, Québec)
Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal (Montréal, Québec)
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke (Sherbrooke, Québec)
The Ottawa Hospital (Ottawa, Ontario)
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre (Toronto, Ontario)
St-Michael’s Hospital (Toronto, Ontario)
Vancouver General Hospital (Vancouver, British Columbia)