ICU health care workers opinion on physician-assisted-suicide and euthanasia: a French survey.
Euthanasia
Intensive Care Unit
Physician-assisted suicide
Journal
Annals of intensive care
ISSN: 2110-5820
Titre abrégé: Ann Intensive Care
Pays: Germany
ID NLM: 101562873
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
18 Mar 2023
18 Mar 2023
Historique:
received:
29
12
2022
accepted:
20
02
2023
entrez:
18
3
2023
pubmed:
19
3
2023
medline:
19
3
2023
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
In France, physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia are not legal but are still debated. French intensive care unit (ICU) health care workers (HCWs) have an insider's perspective on the global quality of the patient's end-of-life, whether it occurs in ICU or not. However, their opinion about euthanasia/physician-assisted suicide remains unknown. The aim of this study is to investigate the opinion of French ICU HCWs about physician-assisted suicide/euthanasia. A total of 1149 ICU HCWs participated to a self-administered anonymous questionnaire: 411 (35.8%) physicians and 738 (64.2%) non-physicians. Among them, 76.5% indicated they were in favor of legalizing euthanasia/physician-assisted suicide. Non-physicians HCWs were significantly more in favor of the legalization of euthanasia/physician assisted suicide than physicians (87% vs 57.8% p < 0.001). Euthanasia/physician-assisted suicide of an ICU patient raised the most important difference in positive judgment between physicians and non-physicians HCWs (80.3% vs 42.2%; p < 0.001 of non-physicians and physicians, respectively). The questionnaire included three case vignettes of concrete examples which participated to the increase in the rate of response in favor of euthanasia/physician-assisted suicide legalization (76.5-82.9%; p < 0.001). Keeping in mind the unknown representation of our sample, ICU HCWs, particularly non physicians, would be in favor of a law legalizing euthanasia/physician-assisted suicide.
Sections du résumé
BACKGROUND
BACKGROUND
In France, physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia are not legal but are still debated. French intensive care unit (ICU) health care workers (HCWs) have an insider's perspective on the global quality of the patient's end-of-life, whether it occurs in ICU or not. However, their opinion about euthanasia/physician-assisted suicide remains unknown. The aim of this study is to investigate the opinion of French ICU HCWs about physician-assisted suicide/euthanasia.
RESULTS
RESULTS
A total of 1149 ICU HCWs participated to a self-administered anonymous questionnaire: 411 (35.8%) physicians and 738 (64.2%) non-physicians. Among them, 76.5% indicated they were in favor of legalizing euthanasia/physician-assisted suicide. Non-physicians HCWs were significantly more in favor of the legalization of euthanasia/physician assisted suicide than physicians (87% vs 57.8% p < 0.001). Euthanasia/physician-assisted suicide of an ICU patient raised the most important difference in positive judgment between physicians and non-physicians HCWs (80.3% vs 42.2%; p < 0.001 of non-physicians and physicians, respectively). The questionnaire included three case vignettes of concrete examples which participated to the increase in the rate of response in favor of euthanasia/physician-assisted suicide legalization (76.5-82.9%; p < 0.001).
CONCLUSIONS
CONCLUSIONS
Keeping in mind the unknown representation of our sample, ICU HCWs, particularly non physicians, would be in favor of a law legalizing euthanasia/physician-assisted suicide.
Identifiants
pubmed: 36933060
doi: 10.1186/s13613-023-01114-z
pii: 10.1186/s13613-023-01114-z
pmc: PMC10024783
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Pagination
19Informations de copyright
© 2023. The Author(s).
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