OBJECTIVES: To investigate attitudes to end-of-life decisions, and the influence of cultural factors and of doctors' personal characteristics on these attitudes. METHOD: As part of a European research project (EURELD), a study on attitudes towards medical end-of-life decisions was conducted among doctors in the German-, French- and Italian-speaking areas of Switzerland. A written questionnaire was sent to a random sample of nine different types of specialist; it presented 14 statements on end-of-life decisions and doctors were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with them. RESULTS: The response rate was 64%. 1360 questionnaires were studied. The results show general agreement with statements on the alleviation of pain and other symptoms with possible life-shortening effect, as well as on non-treatment decisions. The language region was a strong determinant of agreement on some attitudes towards end-of-life decisions. Agreement on the use of lethal drugs and alleviation of pain and other symptoms with possible life-shortening effect was higher among French-speaking than among German- and Italian-speaking doctors. For nontreatment decisions, agreement was higher in the German-speaking region than in the French- and Italian-speaking regions of the country. Italian-speaking doctors were strongly opposed to any kind of end-of-life decision. Religious believers and those who attended a larger number of terminal patients tended to disagree more often with end-of-life decisions than the other doctors. CONCLUSIONS: In end-of-life decision-making, Switzerland represents "Europe in miniature". The impact on end-of-life decisions of cultural factors and the number of terminal patients attended needs further consideration.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Fischer et al. (2006) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: