Background
Methods
Design
Setting
Sampling and recruitment
Questionnaire and data collection
Analysis
Ethical approval
Results
Participant characteristics
Number | Percent | |
---|---|---|
Sex | ||
Female | 202 | 36.9 |
Male | 302 | 55.1 |
not specified | 44 | 8.0 |
Age | ||
under 36 years | 29 | 5.3 |
36–45 years | 110 | 20.1 |
46–55 years | 161 | 29.4 |
56–65 years | 187 | 34.1 |
over 65 years | 18 | 3.3 |
not specified | 43 | 7.8 |
Religion | ||
Catholic | 345 | 63.0 |
no religion | 111 | 20.3 |
not specified | 47 | 8.6 |
Protestant | 36 | 6.6 |
another religion | 9 | 1.6 |
Physician’s specialty | ||
General practitioner | 301 | 54.9 |
Hemato-oncologist | 101 | 18.4 |
Internal medicine physician | 75 | 13.7 |
Not specified | 66 | 12.0 |
Not included | 5 | 1.0 |
Additional qualification | ||
Additional qualification in palliative medicine (Diploma from Austrian Medical Chamber) | 126 | 23.0 |
Patient characteristics
Number | Percent | |
---|---|---|
Gender | ||
Male | 253 | 52.3 |
Female | 223 | 46.1 |
Not specified | 8 | 1.7 |
Place of death | ||
Home | 217 | 44.8 |
Hospital | 183 | 37.8 |
Old people’s home, nursing home, care home | 62 | 12.8 |
Not specified | 13 | 2.7 |
Elsewhere | 9 | 1.9 |
Cause of death (Multiple answers possible) | ||
Cancer | 263 | 53.1 |
Cardiovascular disease | 110 | 22.2 |
Neurological disease (incl. stroke) | 27 | 5.5 |
Other or unknown | 54 | 10.9 |
Respiratory tract disease | 24 | 4.8 |
Not specified | 17 | 3.4 |
Age, median (min – max) | 78 (19–101) years |
Physicians’ treatments at end of life
Number | Percent | |
---|---|---|
Did you do, or arrange that someone else did, the following? (Multiple answers possible) | ||
Intensify a medical treatment to relieve pain and/or symptoms | 371 | 86.3 |
Decide to withhold a treatment | 258 | 60.0 |
Discontinue a treatment | 211 | 49.1 |
Did the patient receive medications such as barbiturates or benzodiazepines to maintain continuous deep sedation or a coma until death? | 72 | 16.7 |
Did death result from a medication that you prescribed, made available or administered with the express intention of hastening death (or enabling the patient to end his or her own life)? | 5 | 1.2 |
Attitudes towards physician-assisted suicide
Sub-group analyses
Influence of medical specialty
Hemato-oncologists | Internal medicine physicians | GPs | Overall | p-value | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Intensification of medical treatment to relieve pain and/or symptoms | 95.8% (91) | 79.6% (39) | 86.6% (201) | 88% (331) | p = 0.01 |
Decision to withhold a treatment | 76.6% (72) | 53.1% (26) | 56.6% (133) | 61.1% (231) | p = 0.002 |
Discontinuation of a treatment | 61.5% (56) | 57.1% (28) | 44.2% (103 | 50.1% (187) | p = 0.011 |
Administered benzodiazepines or barbiturates for deep sedation | 31.9% (29) | 16.7% (8) | 10.3% (23) | 16.5% (60) | p < 0.001 |
Do you feel adequately trained to provide patients with end-of-life care? | 91.8% (90) | 78.6% (55) | 73.3% (214) | 78% (359) | p = 0.001 |
I feel legally secure when providing patients with end-of-life care | 61% (61) | 41.1% (30) | 43.4% (128) | 46.8% (219) | p = 0.005 |
Have you been asked to provide physician-assisted suicide in the past? | 66% (66) | 35.1% (26) | 39.9% (119) | 44.7% (211) | p < 0.001 |