Determinants of favorable or unfavorable opinion about euthanasia in a sample of French cancer patients receiving palliative care.
BMC Palliat Care
; 17(1): 104, 2018 Aug 29.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-30157836
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Opinion about euthanasia has been explored among the general population and recently in patients receiving palliative care. 96% of the French population declared themselves in favor of euthanasia while less of 50% of palliative care patients are. The aim of the present study was to explore and identify potential determinant factors associated with favorable or unfavorable opinion about euthanasia in a French population of cancer patients receiving palliative care.METHODS:
We performed a cross-sectional study among patients in two palliative care units. Eligible patients were identified by the medical staff. Face-to-face interviews were performed by two investigators. Two groups were defined as favorable or unfavorable about euthanasia according to the answer on the specific question about patient opinion on euthanasia. A multivariate analysis including age, belief in God, chemotherapy and gender was built.RESULTS:
Seventy-eight patients were interviewed. Median age was 60.5 years (range 31-87.2). In univariate analysis, patients with a favorable opinion were most often under 60 years old (62 versus 38% unfavorable; p = 0.035), in couple (64 versus 35%; p = 0.032), didn't believe in God (72 versus 28% were non-believers; p < 0.001) and had more frequently an history of chemotherapy treatment (58 versus 42% received at least one cycle of chemotherapy; p = 0.005). In a multivariate analysis, age < 60 years, absence of belief in God and an antecedent of chemotherapy were independently associated with a favorable opinion about euthanasia (OR = 0.237 [0.076-0.746]; p = 0.014, OR = 0.143 [0.044-0.469]; p = 0.001, and OR = 10.418 [2.093-51.853]; p = 0.004, respectively).CONCLUSION:
We report here determinants of opinion about euthanasia in palliative care cancer patients. Thus, young patients who do not believe in God and have a history of chemotherapy treatment are more likely to request the discontinuation or restriction of their treatment. A better understanding of these determinants is essential for the development of information and/or interventions tailored to the palliative context.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
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Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Cuidados Paliativos
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Opinião Pública
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Eutanásia
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Neoplasias
Tipo de estudo:
Observational_studies
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Prevalence_studies
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Prognostic_studies
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Qualitative_research
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Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Adult
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Aged
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Aged80
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Female
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Humans
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Male
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Middle aged
País como assunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2018
Tipo de documento:
Article