Changes in attitudes towards hastened death among Finnish physicians over the past sixteen years

The ethics of hastened death are complex. Studies on physicians' opinions about assisted dying (euthanasia or assisted suicide) exist, but changes in physicians' attitudes towards hastened death in clinical decision-making and the background factors explaining this remain unclear. The aim...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:BMC medical ethics 2018-05, Vol.19 (1), p.40-40, Article 40
Main Authors: Piili, Reetta P, Metsänoja, Riina, Hinkka, Heikki, Kellokumpu-Lehtinen, Pirkko-Liisa I, Lehto, Juho T
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Age Factors
Aged
Assisted suicide
Attitude of Health Personnel
Attitude to Death
Beliefs, opinions and attitudes
Bioethics
Clinical ethics
Death
Decision-making
End-of-life care
Euthanasia
Female
Finland
Humans
Male
Medical ethics
Medical Oncology
Middle Aged
Morphine - administration & dosage
Palliative care
Physicians
Physicians - trends
Practice
Religion and Medicine
Resuscitation Orders
Sex Factors
Specialization
Suicide, Assisted
Suicides & suicide attempts
Surveys and Questionnaires
Systematic review
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Summary:The ethics of hastened death are complex. Studies on physicians' opinions about assisted dying (euthanasia or assisted suicide) exist, but changes in physicians' attitudes towards hastened death in clinical decision-making and the background factors explaining this remain unclear. The aim of this study was to explore the changes in these attitudes among Finnish physicians. A questionnaire including hypothetical patient scenarios was sent to 1182 and 1258 Finnish physicians in 1999 and 2015, respectively. Two scenarios of patients with advanced cancer were presented: one requesting an increase in his morphine dose to a potentially lethal level and another suffering a cardiac arrest. Physicians' attitudes towards assisted death, life values and other background factors were queried as well. The response rate was 56%. The morphine dose was increased by 25% and 34% of the physicians in 1999 and 2015, respectively (p 
ISSN:1472-6939
1472-6939
DOI:10.1186/s12910-018-0290-5