How ICU clinicians document ‘Futility’: A 10-year analysis of critical care notes using natural language processing notes

Use of futility was rare and stable across a decade of ICU notes. Semantic analysis indicates clinicians use futility in heterogeneous contexts. Changes in themes' frequencies may reflect clinicians' evolving conceptions of medical futility. These findings could guide development of EHR-based interventions to address perceived futile treatments which contribute to clinicians' moral distress.