Evaluating performance of the Surprise Question to predict 12-month mortality in patients with end-stage liver disease

Evaluating performance of the Surprise Question to predict 12-month mortality in patients with end-stage liver disease
American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care; by Sarah Homann, Jamie Pfaff, Elizabeth Stovicek, Rajiv Agarwal, Sumathi K. Misra, Jill M. Pulley, Justin K. Siemann, Ashley Spann, Stacey Tillman, Cheryl L. Gatto, Mohana Karlekar; 2/25
ESLD [end-stage liver disease] is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Early PC engagement has been proposed as a solution to improve the physical and psychological burden associated with ESLD. ... hepatologists were asked the SQ [surprise question]: “Would you be surprised if this patient were to die in the next 12 months?” as a prompt to consider consultation to specialty PC [palliative care]. While the SQ should not be solely used as a prognostic indicator of death, our study proves that the SQ can be utilized by hepatologists as a screening tool with good sensitivity for identifying patients with ESLD who may be at higher risk of death and therefore may benefit from PC co-management.