کد مقاله کد نشریه سال انتشار مقاله انگلیسی نسخه تمام متن
2724574 1146164 2009 7 صفحه PDF دانلود رایگان
عنوان انگلیسی مقاله ISI
Concerns About End-of-Life Care and Support for Euthanasia
موضوعات مرتبط
علوم زیستی و بیوفناوری علم عصب شناسی عصب شناسی
پیش نمایش صفحه اول مقاله
Concerns About End-of-Life Care and Support for Euthanasia
چکیده انگلیسی

Popular support for euthanasia is known to vary according to sociodemographic characteristics. However, little is known about whether support is associated with concerns regarding the emotional, physical, and economic burdens of end-of-life care. This study used data from the 1998 General Social Survey, a national survey of community-dwelling adults. The outcome variable assessed the respondents' support for a doctor's right to end life in the setting of terminal illness. Independent variables assessed the following concerns: 1) concern about the emotional burden of end-of-life decision making for family members; 2) worry about the economic burden of terminal illness; 3) concern about pain at the end of life; 4) worry that lack of money or insurance will result in second-class end-of-life care; and 5) belief that their religious community will be helpful at the end of life. Multivariable logistic regression estimated the independent effect of these concerns on support for euthanasia, adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics. Of 786 respondents, 70.6% approved of euthanasia in the setting of terminal illness. In adjusted analyses, respondents with concerns about the emotional toll of decision making on family members, economic burden, and poor health care because of lack of insurance were significantly more likely to support euthanasia. Respondents with faith in the helpfulness of their religious community were less likely to support euthanasia. In conclusion, emotional and economic concerns about end-of-life care were associated with support for the right to euthanasia. Future work can evaluate whether alleviating these concerns may reduce the perceived desire for euthanasia by patients near the end of life.

ناشر
Database: Elsevier - ScienceDirect (ساینس دایرکت)
Journal: Journal of Pain and Symptom Management - Volume 38, Issue 2, August 2009, Pages 167–173
نویسندگان
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